Destihl "Soundboard" Low-Cal IPA

Once again I find myself looking at a light beer from a craft brewery in the hopes that I will come across something that can equal the average beer. The problem is usually that these beers try too hard or effectively just add a bunch of water. Glancing at the ABV of this beer makes me wonder if they have just added water. At 4.0% ABV, it is just about half of what I would expect from a good hazy IPA. Let's see if they did more.

I have somewhat frequently referred to beer as being pale yellow, but I take every one of those other ones back. This is about as pale as a yellow can get. I vaguely recall referring to a different beer as looking the equivalent of dirty dishwater, and this is dishwater that isn't quite as dirty. The head is quite considerable straight out of the can, and it takes me a while to get this picture as a result. Mind you, the head doesn't stay around for very long. A few isolated bubble patches remain as faux lacing before leaving a thin and incomplete cap on top of the beer. The aroma is not as faint as I had feared, but it bristles with spiky outcroppings of pine and flowers.

First sip would make me believe that this is a nonalcoholic beer. This has all the hallmarks of a nonalcoholic beer with the energetic hops trying to make up for the lack of anything underneath. The hollow effect is watery and unsatisfying. There is clearly enough malt to hold back a good portion of the bitterness from the hops, but I could not tell you what that malt actually tasted like.

Tip-in is floral and slight citrus with carbonation buzzing and a lake of water underneath. The middle gets too bitter too quickly, and that bitterness seems to overwhelm most of the flavors this side of pine and a bit of lemon. The finish is watery and bitter before trailing off into nothing.

Bottom Line: Eventually someone gonna do these right, but it isn't this one.

1.25/5