The last excursion with a Mad Tree beer was middle-of-the-road. It got a 2.5 out of five which is respectable enough but not memorable enough. I can't say that I've had too many white IPAs to try out on this blog, so this is a pleasant departure from my normal slog of IPAs and DIPAs. Different may very well be better in this case. Let's go find out.
First sip, and the floral seems to have come out of nowhere. It hits on the backend with a load of spices and while the bitterness is not overwhelming, it seems to add to the punch of the floral nature of the finish to make the beer seem a little off. The coriander is definitely leaning into the flowers toward the end, and the result is that it is also getting very dry as the bitterness seeps in. It's not an outright bad sip, but it is not great.
Tip-in is moderate carbonation burn with coriander and lemon peel very forward, but a sweetness is holding back any tartness. The middle is a bit bumpy with the grainy malt rising up to hit the somewhat confused spices as they merge into the coriander and lemon. The finish is where the flowers take over, but they only do it as the spices really start to hit their stride and a bitter echo joins the flavor fold.
Bottom Line: Decent enough, and at least they're trying.
2.5/5
