Cold Seal
Sixpoint Brewery

A: crystal clear; deep gold in color; 1 finger finely pored ivory head that receded to a skim cap; nice lacing;

S: very little aroma; what's there is pineapple and orange;

T: not much flavor either; it's strongest at the end where it follows the nose; mild to moderate bitterness on the finish;

M: medium bodied; moderate carbonation; moderately dry finish;

O: there's nothing inherently wrong with this beer - it's certainly drinkable; however, the brewery calls it a cold DIPA with grapefruit; to that end, it needs aroma, flavor, bitterness, and more dryness; it has no grapefruit character at all;

Clear, orange color. Medium-sized, white head. Citrus, malt, and tropical fruits in the aroma. Hoppy taste with a malty backbone. Decent hoppy bitterness at the end.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My first "cold" IPA - Which from what I understand is basically just an IPA fermented with lager yeast at a colder temperature than is typical of the style.

Look: Pours a honey yellow, straw color with a generous two finger head of off white foam. Like almost all sixpoint beers, it laces the glass exceptionally well.

Aroma: Slightly feint nose to this. Mostly just grapefruit skins and honey.

Taste: Decent flavor but relatively simple. Upfront some nice caramel, granola and earthy pine - immediately it takes a turn and goes bitter with very intense flavors spicy grapefruit pith. Juicy and tangy grapefruit juice very briefly, before ending on notes of angle food cake and more caramel.

Feel: Gentle feel to this. Mid-light body. Dry/Bitterness level is high and somewhat well balanced. I wouldn't call this full bodied but it certainly isn't watery or anemic.

Overall: This feels a little one dimensional and clinical . . . but it isn't bad. They're using a ton of Citra hops here. Then they're adding adjunct grapefruit and dry hopping it again with even more Citra. I don't think this needed the addition of adjunct grapefruit, it makes the beer a little too grapefruit forward and heavy handed. Still I enjoyed it.

Cold Seal from Sixpoint, 16 oz can. Purchased from Franklin Beer, Franklin, PA on 20/02/23 for $ 3.50 (Including tax) - $ 0.219/oz. In reefer at store, stored at 34 degrees at home. Reviewed 01/03/23 (Review 3054). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Can stamped on bottom rim “BEST BY JUN 01 23”. Served at 49.2 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 56.3 degrees.
Appearance – 4.5.
First pour – Straw (SRM 3), clear.
Body – Pale Gold (SRM 4), clear. Under direct light, same with highly active carbonation. When rear lite, same.
Head – Large (Maximum 4.8 cm, aggressive center pour), white, high density, receding to a jagged 0.7 – 1.7 cm crown and a thick, rocky cap.
Lacing – Excellent! Multiple rows of tiny to small bubbles, connected by short columns of varying widths, with the top edge giving birth to many irregular islands.
Aroma – 3 – Virtually odorless. No malt, no yeast, no hops.
Flavor – 3.25 – Begins slightly bitter and a bit oily - no hops, no malt, no yeast, neither grapefruit nor any other recognizable citrus fruit flavor, just some generic eugenol and linalool. No ethanol (8.2 % ABV as marked on label) aroma or taste. No gastric warming. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 3 – Medium; watery; soft, lively carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3.5 Looks good. Disappointing nose and taste – where the hops, where the grapefruit? Decent palate for a DIPA. (After finishing this review, gastric warming finally creeps in.)

Poured a seethru orange-gold body with decent head that slowly dies. Mild grapefruit aroma with a touch of caramel malt in the aroma as well. Smooth, clean, mild citric hops that are dirty along with touches of grapefruit sweetness and sticky caramel malts. Clean finish, easy to drink, nothing bad, just a "mid" beer to be honest and worth trying but nothing outstanding.

 

 

 

Best by 6/2/23

I believe this is my first time reviewing a Cold IPA, though it’s hard to tell as they’re not listed as a style yet. I know I’ve had at least one that I didn’t review, but either way I haven’t had many of them. I guess a major regional brewery like Sixpoint brewing one basically means it’s a thing now, so let’s see what the hype is about

Pours a clear gold with 3 fingers of creamy off white head that slowly fades to a cap and leaves decent lacing and has a constant stream of bubbles from the bottom of the glass

The nose here is pretty mild, but what’s present is nice. I’m picking up on aromas of grapefruit zest, toasted grain, crackery malt, floral hops, sweet honey, lemon zest, black pepper, and light orange juice

It has more presence in taste, but still not anywhere near aggressive. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting pithy grapefruit, bready malt, dank weed, piney hops, orange juice, white pepper, wildflower honey, and light lemon zest. The swallow brings notes of grapefruit zest, dank weed, orange marmalade, crackery malt, wildflower honey, white pepper, and toasted grain

A medium body pairs with moderate carbonation, resulting in a crisp and dry beer. Finishes mostly dry with a firm bitterness

Yeah, I really dig this. Light but still flavorful and goes down really easy