Lychee IPA
Upslope Brewing Company - Lee Hill

 

i had way higher hopes for this, given half acres involvement and the idea of lychee tartness with hoppy goodness. it never really materializes though. golden in color, light for the style, but a nice creamy head on it and an aroma thats more grain driven than it should be for color or style. i sweat i get pils malt out of it, and not nearly the fruit or hop prominence i felt like i was promised by the name. the flavor is equally drab, lacking in both lychee and hop flavor, which ends up being a huge disappointment and producing a beer thats more like a mildly hoppy pils than anything else. i was unimpressed with lychee here, its not even sweet from the fruit, let alone flavored by it, and its characteristic texture is nowhere to be found. all of that sounds negative, and it is in fact a critique, but as a beer to drink a glass of, its still very enjoyable. lighter bodied, well carbonated, and interesting enough in terms of flavor to no be boring, but it never tastes like it says its going to, and i kind of want a lychee forward ipa now. hopefully someone a little bolder will pick this project up where it leaves off here. a quaffable and enjoyable brew, but certainly not the way i envisioned a lychee ipa to be...

 

A collaboration with Half Acre Beer Company.