Joop - Pink Guava
Spring House Brewing Company

 

2018-07-18
16oz can served in a pint glass. Canned May 23 2018. I think given to me by @mr-jj.

Pours hazy, yellow, with a huge head. Lots of carbonation. Smell is fruity and damp.

Taste is interesting -- strong bitterness, though somewhat nondescript. But, I do clearly get fruit that could easily be guava. But the two flavors don't really meld very well.

Mouthfeel is too thin. Overall, it's not bad, but definitely not great.

 

I was on my way home from another day-to-day substitute teacher placement at the end of the 2017-'18 School Year (SY), when it suddenly occurred to me to stop off at The Taproom By Spring House B.C. I was not after anything in particular, but when I found out that this was the current Joop iteration & that it was available both on draft & in CANs, I jumped all over it! That's my approved pic, BTW.

From the CAN: "Keep Cold! Drink Fresh!" Aye aye! "Joop IPA Brewed w/Lactose, Wheat, Oats and Pink Guava Puree. Double Dry Hopped with Citra, Simcoe, Amarillo and Zythos."

OMFG! How CAN you read that list of ingredients & adjuncts & rate it "Okay"?!? We're gonna find out, kids, on this episode of The CANQuest (tm).

I beCAN with a simple Crack! of the vent & when nothing untoward ocCANurred, I beCAN a slow, gentle Glug. That is until I realized that my efforts were futile! This was gonna be one of those hazebro AIPAs that I generally rail about. Okay, boys, CANvince me! I upped my game by upping the force of the Glug until it was nearly inverted, so up yours! Man, I was scared by the way that the head came rushing up at me with no indiCANtion of stopping until it peaked at just under three fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, tawny head with great retention that slowly fell back, leaving stupendous lacing in its murky wake. Color was an absolutely cloudy Yellow-Gold (SRM = 4 - 5). Nose smelled like Guava & I say that only because I recently decided to refresh myself & buy some tropical fruits for personal CANsumption.

It was like the old days inna Navy as I was a lean, mean, fightin' machine, down to 110#s & subsisting on FFV. Man, I was chowing at every opportunity, onna pier, inna storerooms, inna berthing (BIG NO-NO), anywhere & everywhere, while lifting, working aht, kicking boxes & generally transforming myself into Billy BadAss. It worked. I was a whoremongering, street fighting punk rocker who seldom backed down from an argument, a bet or a fight. Young, dumb & fulla c**, as the saying goes. I had one B-Girl inna P.I. with whom I was a steady. No butterfly for this kid! We'd make it inna middle of the dance floor in a hammock if no rooms were available. One night, knowing my affinity for FFV, she & her Mama-san fashioned an entire outfit outta FFV, Carmen Miranda-style for me to CANsume in full view of everybody! Talk about a sticky mess … Man, pesos showered us & I came away a rich man with a rep for madness. I still live that way, just a little slower.

Back to the beer. Mouthfeel was medium, about right for an AIPA. Now, here's where the numbers might be hurting. It tasted strongly of Guava, somewhat of Wheat, Simcoe the Kitty peeked in, but it just did not taste like an AIPA. It was too unfocused and not very bitter. It was a classic example of why NE IPA needs to be a break-out, stand-alone style. It just does not make it as an AIPA. Did it make it as a beer that I would have on draft & bring home in a CAN for a review? Hellz, yeah! BUT, I gotta review to style, not to personal taste or the BA Police will come after me. Finish was semi-dry, just bitter enough to keep it from semi-sweetness, but it just did not scratch my hophead itch. Capice? YMMV.