Tahitian IPA
Roosters Brewing Co. - Ogden

a very unique offering here, ipa with vanilla, was either going to be epic or terrible, and thankfully its the former, really flavorful and good, and the whole key to it is how subtle and tastefully dosed the vanilla is, and how natural as well. its all on the finish, soft and mellow, even peaking after the swallow, but its not tied up with a ton of sweetness, and the hops selected for this are quite compatible, the fact that vanilla is the product of a flower is on display here, this is as floral as it is conventionally vanilla driven, and i like the lightness of the whole thing, unexpected and very good. also cool here is the absence of milk sugar and the gross over dry hopping that often accompany vanilla in hoppy beers, its pretty basic on the beer front, pale malt base, orange and lemon forward hops, a hint of pineapple too, great balance, even some bitterness which makes sense in an ipa of course, but is all too often omitted in these sorts of flavored versions. a golden brew with some light chill haze, a creamy white inch of head, and visible carbonation. an aroma of clean fresh scraped vanilla pod, very mild and way behind the hops, but making this distinct and sort of sexy, maybe citra and mosaic for the hops or something similar, fruity and familiar, more compatible than expected with the vanilla, and just a basic dryish cereal malt base. the flavor has great proportions, its ipa first, and the bitterness offsets the sweet tendency of the vanilla, really drinkable and not even close to overdone. light overall, i think the 5% abv draft thing in utah actually favors this, i dont want more of anything, it works great. clever and nicely executed!