Pacific Dawn West Coast DIPA
Captain Lawrence Brewing Co.

Picked up a four pack of cans at Bradfords Liquors in Plymouth, Massachusetts for about sixteen dollars. My third brew reviewed from these guys. Canned on date of 10/20/25. Pretty good, despite date, & high ABV.

Nice hazy deep gold with thin ish receding head. Sweet overall on the aroma and taste with a full mouthfeel and mild carbonation. Found this while on a drive in my 22 Model T..Tasty DIPA!

 

 

This brewery has a long history with IPAs. They are one of the OGs in Southern New York State. This ale hearkens back to the previous decade when higher IBUs was the goal and not tropical hazier ales (just some historical context - i do love a good NEIPA) Nice bright bronze body with ample carbonation and moderate head length. Dank, weedy hops and crackery malt on the nose. The taste is really, really nice. Citrus rinds. Greeny and bitter hops. Bready malt. The modern west coast inspiration means its less malty but wow do they pack plenty of hop and rind flavor into this. The high ABV makes it a slow sipper. But overall a really stunning ale. Seek it out.

 

 

Captain Lawrence Brewing Co. "Pacific Dawn West Coast DIPA"
16 fl. oz. can "CANNED 10042023 150633 MPN 2194". Sampled on 03312024
$4.25 @ Kunda Bev., King of Prussia, PA

Notes via stream of consciousness: Let's run down some stats first; this is a double IPA at 9.1% ABV, and it's dry hopped with Cascade, Centennial, and Mosaic hops. It's poured a very hazy golden body with a bit of an orange sheen to it. The head is a massive cap of pillowy white foam, and it seems to be holding quite well. What do I see inside? There's some particulate in suspension, and a fair amount of tiny bubbles rising upwards but it doesn't look like it's highly carbonated. The aroma offers a combination of citrus, pine, and berry-like fruitiness. That aligns perfectly with the selection of Cascade, Centennial, and Mosaic. Will it taste the same? Yes, but with a sweet, grainy, and seemingly wheaty and lightly caramelish maltiness. There's a lot of hop flavor going on which is great, and come to think of it, there's more to the aroma than you usually find in a double IPA because of all the malt. Ahh, maybe I just started with it a little too cold because taking a whiff of it now I'm definitely finding more of the malt and less of the hops - OR I've just become accustomed to the hops. Regardless, it's definitely very hoppy. There's some bitterness to it as well but not too much. Keep in mind that there's a good amount of malt to it which is interesting at 9.1% ABV, and I have to wonder how big is this when it starts? Taking another long whiff I have to say that I love this aroma. It's a little bit unique because of the Mosaic. Back to the flavor, I'm getting notes of orange, peach, mango, soft grapefruit, and blueberry. There's probably more there but that's what stands out clearly so I'm going to just stop there. I feel sometimes I go too far, digging and digging and coming up with things that other people aren't going to find. However, just having said that I'm going to also throw in lychee. What can I say, I love lychees and that's popping for me now as well. I think it's really well balanced and I didn't even get the alcohol at first. I do not, and it's definitely helping to dry it in the finish, but it's not hot or distracting. I've said this before and I'll continue to do so, when I drink a strong beer I expect some alcohol and if it's not there I'll find it to be a little out of whack. Given that it's 9.1% I feel it's nicely done. It finishes drying, with the malt steadily fading, but also distinctly bitter and with a spritz of alcohol, and slowly passing notes of tropical fruits, pine, herbs, and earth. So what else to wrap this up? The body is medium-full and it's a bit spritzy with a fine bubbled, seemingly natural carbonation. 9.1% is a bit much for me to drink this on a regular basis but it does make a great after-dinner beer and I'm hoping that this isn't just a one-off as I'd like to keep some of this around throughout the year.
Review #8,937

 

Can. Beautiful CLEAR gold with lasting head and lace. Citrus and pine aroma with a hint of honey. Medium light sweetness with some lightly toasted cereal greaniness and assertive citrus and pine resin finish with very light lingering tangerine. Medium body (highly attenuated) with lively carbo that accentuates hops. TOTALLY EXCELLENT.

 

 

Tall can direct from the source in Elmsford, NY.

"Canned 10/24/23"

Pours near clear, under a creamy, solid and lasting cap. Sheets, bits and strands of lacing left on the glass.

Sniff infused with pine, and hoppy resins.

West Coast all the way. More resins and pine infused hoppy goodness.

Broad shouldered malty under coating provides complexity and balance.

Well crafted and well worth a try.

Pours a fairly clear light orange with soft head.

Smell is fruity with notes of pine, grapefruit, peach, green tea and some caramel.

Taste is fruity and intense with a potent bitterness. Notes of pine, grapefruit, citrus peel, peach, green tea and hints of caramell and gunpowder.

Mouthfeel is medium, sticky, chewy and well carbonated.

Overall, a very nice DIPA, well balanced despite the bitterness and ABV.

Ample example.
a) Pours chill hazed amber with glass filling lace.
s) Citrus, herb, tropical fruit and berry adds some nutty and caramel notes.
t) Faithly follows, fullfills the aroma. Adding ripe citrus, and finally hemp, juniper, berry, pine.
f) Finishes bitter with drying, resinous feel. Butt kicker.
o) Top DIPA

 

 

 

Since imperial IPA don't usually carry more bitterness than standard strength IPA, but they do register fuller body, sweeter taste and more plump fruitiness. To create a greater impression of "hoppiness" Captain Lawrence knows to ramp up the hop aromas and flavors instead.

Light honey amber upon its pour, Pacific Dawn soon billows the rim with a cottony white froth. As its radiant perfrume of citrus, herb, tropical fruit and berry swoons the nose, its first sip is supple and sweet with caramel, nuttiness and lightly toasted grain to present a mild trail mix maltiness early on the palate.

But as the malts play only a supporting role, its the hops that steal the stage with a bold display of branch ripe tangerine, red grapefruit and a bright lime zest character. Shifting to a more tropical taste, the middle palate opens with mango, passionfruit, kiwi and starfruit before trending cleanly bitter with green tea, fresh spruce, peppery hemp and a follow through of blackcurrant as the late palate closes.

Medium-full in body, the strong IPA finishes decidedly bitter in balance with a drying, resinous mouthfeel. Pleasantly spicy with elevated alcohol, the session is as refreshing as it is flavorful for a throwback taste that's sure to appease the most classic of hop heads.

The label describes this as a double dry hopped West Coast IPA. The closest available category seems to be Imperial IPA, considering its ABV of 9.1%. It's not an easy pour to empty a pint can into a clear glass liter mug. There's a mess of stark white foam to deal with. It recedes quickly, leaving almost no glass lacing. Many brewers shortchange the barley malt in a West Coast IPA to get the dryly hoppy sensation. It appears to be done here. The liquid is amber, on the bright side, well carbonated and just a bit cloudy. The aroma is hoppy, sharp, acute and one dimensional. There's just a little starch within it, too. It's taste is, well, OK. It's not a hop bomb, but there's little more to taste. The hops are piney and maybe a little citrusy, but they finish dry, as they should. Then, there's an almost minty taste inclusion at the end. The body is about as thin as expected, yet it somehow provides a little counterbalance to the hops. There's an alcohol hit. It's not a terrible thing early, but it grows in a negative way. Overall, this seems like it's designed to be pounded for a quick buzz with just a little taste. That it does nicely. It would be hard to imagine beer geeks discussing the subtleties of this one's tastes, because there aren't any. It does fit within the standard West Coast IPA taste profile, but there are much better samples. West Coast IPAs aren't particularly well regarded for their body and this comes up even shorter than that norm.