Terrapin "High & Hazy" IPA

 Whelp, summer is here, so it's time to look at IPAs. To be fair, the winter is also a good time for IPAs. And who doesn't like an IPA during the crisp spring or mild fall day? Obviously, I'm a fan of the style, and I expect I'm going to like one from the turtle-themed Georgian brewery.

The cloudy yellow beverage is inviting with its rocky head that boils to a patchy clump of islands with noticeable lacing strewn about the sides of the glass. The aroma is fruity with more citrus than tropical fruits and... yes, a lingering dank pall that manages to coat everything with a thin film. It's nice enough, but I wouldn't call this great or even particularly inviting. I think I have come to appreciate dank in the occasional beer, but it needs to sequester itself in some isolated portion of the taste to be effective. 

First sip is pretty dank overall, but the grapefruit and mango seems to be able to assert themselves well enough to be heard above it. I think I'm not expressing the issue with dank beers well enough. It's like a coffee beer, adding onion to a burger, or getting infected by an alien face hugger; it overtakes the normal flavor in favor of its own matrix.

Tip-in is mild carbonation tingle with a dank hue between me and mango, kiwi, and grapefruit. The middle arrives at a gentle smoothness with the fruit juices flowing and the dank receding enough to enjoy it. The finish is a wave of dank that recovers and hits with too much sticky.

Bottom Line: Not for me.

1.5/5