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The next Maplewood beer is here, and I'm looking forward to it. The last one was quite enjoyable, and this is going full IPA. I can appreciate the more subtle character of an APA, but an IPA is like ringing a bell. The crisp flavors of citrus and tropical fruits or even the pointy nature of pine hops or ephemeral flowers - any combo can be massaged into greatness.
The bright yellow beer has a fluffy white head.
First sip is orange and grapefruit with a sheen of bitterness over them throughout the beer - it's not like I'm getting the fruit forward and then getting a bitter back end, as I have so often gotten with IPAs in the past. Under the fruits, the sweetness of the malt tries to shine through, but the bitterness feels like it has a grudge.
Bottom Line: Solid like a rock.
I just re-read that sentence, and I feel like I was writing a sample sentence for a remedial reading course. Nevertheless, it is the most straight-forward way of describing the beverage in front of me, so I'm leaving it in. The aroma... I'm starting to think it's this kind of glass. If I have a beer in these glasses, I notice that I complain more frequently about the beer not having much of a smell. That's confusing, as these are IPA glasses, and my nose is millimeters away from the top of the beer. Either way, I think I smell citrus.
First sip is orange and grapefruit with a sheen of bitterness over them throughout the beer - it's not like I'm getting the fruit forward and then getting a bitter back end, as I have so often gotten with IPAs in the past. Under the fruits, the sweetness of the malt tries to shine through, but the bitterness feels like it has a grudge.
Tip-in is bittersweet orange, lemon, and grapefruit with moderate carbonation. The middle brings an impressively smooth fruity mix that ignores the bitterness in favor of sweetness, and it is gold. The finish is where the bitter waits, but it's just a cap on a solid beer.
Bottom Line: Solid like a rock.
4.0/5
