The thing about these intros is that I tend to ruminate on what a particular brewery has meant to me or what I feel the brewery's trying to inspire. Failing that, I will talk about the can art or the fonts that they've picked or even my experience with a particular style of beer. In this case, I'm going to call back to the Hi-5 IPA that I can only guess this is based on. That was an excellent beer, and if this is an improvement on it, they're on to something special.
First sip is not as juicy as I expected. While this beer doesn't say juicy on the outside, the aroma put me in mind of a beer that was going to be filled with citrus fruits. Instead, the beer feels a little dry, and there's a bit of a musty taste that could be coming from the peels of the orange and grapefruit that are giving the beer life. The sip isn't bad; it was just a little unexpected.
Tip-in is very light carbonation with orange, grapefruit, tangerine, and a spritz of lime all huddled in the center of the mouth with bitterness threatening to swallow it up around the outsides. The middle is a luscious, luxurious mix of fruits with a smoothness that the rising carbonation shouldn't allow. The finish is, indeed, dry with bitterness in tow, but it does not overwhelm and allows the taste buds to recall the effortless enjoyment of the middle.
Bottom Line: I would not have bet on this combination, but this is a keeper.
4.5/5
