Fat Orange Cat "Baby Kittens" New England IPA

Okay, Fat Cat, you're not fooling me into thinking you're Garfield or even Heathcliff. You have made more great beers than not great, but you seem to be overwhelmingly average. What is your New England IPA going to be like? I mean, I like them. Are they as good at a regular IPA? It's hard to say. I have not done the  statistical analysis that would tell me if style was better. Maybe I should crunch the numbers, but I'm not doing it today. 

Fat Orange Cat makes a fat orange beer. It gives enough of a head to make it look right, but it's minimal enough that I could fit the whole 16oz can in the glass. I can't tell if there will be any lacing, but I suspect it will be minimal. The bread and orange juice mix is pretty nice, but it is tinged with significant bitterness. Now, I know from previous NE-IPAs that they sometimes smell of bitterness and do not deliver. If this one follows that trend, it could be very enjoyable. 

First sip is not an overly bitter affair, and I'm glad I was right. Instead, it has bitterness kept at bay with the sweetness that turns the orange into a nice, juicy cocktail with a crusty bread base and the impression of alcohol that seems a bit more than the 6.5% ABV would seem to bring with it. It's a very nice, crisp taste, and I want to know what a swig will be like. 

Tip-in is tangy orange and grapefruit with mild carbonation tingle. The middle gets a cold crispness that rises to the roof of the mouth while juice flows under it with the sweetness of the malt. The finish is a light bitterness that grips the juice for the trail off.

Bottom Line: Pretty good.

3.0/5