West Coast Beer Hug
Goose Island Beer Co.

 

 

Twelve ouncer straight up, in Fort Myers, FL. Little piney cardboard and tinny on the nose. The taste is relatively pedestrian; no distinguishing character to be found. There is a bitter note mid-taste, some citrus zest.
Medium mouthfeel, low end carbonation.
Went down easy, but I didn’t care for another.

Drinking in a small Teku glass.
Pours a clear copper with a full head.
Some resinous smell.
Nice mouth feel.
Somewhat bitter. Somewhat funny taste. Not clear what it is.

Poured from the can into a Spiegelau IPA glass.

Bright beaming and super crystal clear body with excellent small linear lines of carbonation. Golden to pale amber colored, with a creamy classic topped bright white head that is thick and rich looking. Bubbly and pill like lace hits, with some of other chunky bubbles to hang on the edges of the glass. Great looking IPA.

Aroma is kind of neutral and surprisingly kind of closed. There's a faint touch of strangely pineapple it seems in the mix which while enjoyable does seem a little out of place for this style.

Palate leaves me wondering. A quite good classic pithy sensation on first sip. Mid palate hits with a very classic pithy citrus oil bitterness that hits sharp and long. Lingering tastes though don't provide much fruit character. Lots of sharp oily bitterness in that west coast citrus grapefruit vein, but not much of that classic sweet flavor coming through.

The brew comes off drinkable but lacking in many of the classic qualities of a West coast IPA. Has the bitterness but none of the classic flavors.

 

 

12oz can. Poured out a clear, golden orange color with a small, white head of foam. It left sudsy trails of lace on the glass. It smelled of roasted malt, orange, grapefruit and resin. Sweet fruity taste with toasted caramel and a piney bitterness.

 

 

Poured into a grip shaped goblet: color is gold, slight haze, head is off white with fine bubbles, head presents 1/4 inch thick, some spots on the glass sides.

Smell is subdued with light toasted malt, hint of caramel, but missing that hop punch for a west coast, just a bit of citrus and earth.

Taste is similarly subdued, not bad, just a not punchy west coast ipa, more like a early 2000s strong pale ale; toasted malt, light citrus and earth hops.

Mouthfeel is lower carbonation, low/moderate sweetness, low bitterness especially for style.

Overall a light flavored west coast ipa that drinks like a strong pale ale since the hops are light and its not that bitter.

 

It's a mass-produced IPA but it's still a solid beer. A nice take on a West Coast IPA - well done goose island.