Centennial Fresh Hop IPA
Ninkasi Brewing Company

all wet centennial hops from oregon in this dangerously easy drinking fresh hop brew. its light orange in color with a little haze, a tall white head from the tap but with just okay retention, and an aroma brimming with identifiable centennial goodness. this hop in pellet form to me always tastes like pine and wet lumber, fresh milled wood, sawdust, that sort of thing, and thats what it smells like here, with a little malt sweetness mixed in and some green vegetal character as well, but no apparent bite. the flavor has a lot of this, and i think its easy to call it out as centennial, but there is some cool nuance too, including a weedy oily thing going on, some fresh orange and lemon notes, and a botanical property akin to juniper, a little bitterness there but mild for an ipa overall. i think the beer tastes fresh and nice on the whole, but i also think its pretty samey, doesnt really do anything new for me, and could use some other hops in the mix to make it more interesting, some mosaic type pineapple character comes to mind here, not that this is one dimensional, just that its so familiar already. hard to be critical of a well made beer packed with wet hops, so i wont be, just that i have come to expect pretty big things from ninkasi on the hoppy side, and this was slightly underwhelming. great beer but a flavor profile we all know, especially this time of year. centennial is just built for wet hopping through, and this is a nice showcase of it.