West Coast IPA
Fat Head's Brewery & Saloon

 

 

On tap at Fat Heads Brewery in Middleburg Heights, OH.

This one pours a clear golden yellow color, with a small head, and lots of lacing.

This smells like grapefruit pith, extremely resinous pine, lemony hops, orange zest, and grassiness.

This is bracingly bitter, and I honestly enjoy it. Most IPAs tasted bracingly and shockingly bitter when I was first getting into beer 6-7 years ago, and now a lot of those same IPAs taste much smoother and less bitter as my palate has adjusted. But this beer - it tastes like what I remember the classic West Coast IPAs tasted like back then. The bitterness is clean and refreshing, but it is very, very strong. There's some nice orange rind, lemony hops, and a touch of grapefruity bitterness. There's also very little maltiness here.

This is light bodied, clean, and very crisp, with a nice drinkability.

It's refreshing to see old school bitterness handled so well here. Fat Heads is still a favorite whenever I'm in Ohio.

This collaboration with Brew Kettle hits the bullseye. Perfect blend of IPA hops, with a solid malt backbone in support. Get it while you can!
Enjoyed at Fat Head's in N. Canton.

I got a sixer of these last week at Saveon. They were supposed to be three days old. Naw, they were a little over a week old, now two weeks. Nothing to complain about but not three days!

It pours very west coast - looks like a Green Flash, golden, fizzy. The aroma is a nice skunky hops smell. It tastes nice and bitter and refreshing, with enough malts to know it's serious and a strong, grassy aftertaste and burp.

Highly recommended. Get some while you can and while it is fresh. I have one more can and I will enjoy it!

Collaboration with The Brew Kettle for "National IPA Day". Canned on 7/28/21. 12oz can poured into a tulip. Pours golden with great clarity and transparency; fluffy white head that fades leaving nice retention and sticky lacing. The aromas are on the subtle side. Mild hints of citrus. Lots of crackers and breads. Hints of caramel. Malts are there. The flavors are a bit bolder than the nose. More citrus. Grapefruit leads the way along with some orange. Some fresh grass along with some pine. More breads. Solid bitterness. Malts do their thing. Finishes dry. Alcohol basically goes unnoticed. Mouthfeel is very nice. It's medium-bodied with moderate to active carbonation. It's sharp, fluffy, smooth and slightly creamy.

This is a solid IPA. It's a classic, traditional and old school example of a "West Coast IPA". It's not flashy or anything too crazy, especially for a Fat Head's IPA, but I'm not sure if it's supposed to be. It's still enjoyable stuff. It was really cool to see Fat Head's and The Brew Kettle collaborate on two different IPAs. I actually like the Hazy IPA more, for whatever that's worth.

 

L. Classic golden ale with a foamy white head that leaves plenty of lace
S. Pine pine and more pine
T. Lots of pine but a clean dry hop finish
F. Nice hop bite. Just what you’d expect
O. Well crafted old school west coast IPA

Had this on 2021-08-06 near Pittsburgh, PA from a 12oz canned on 2021-07-28. Picked it up two days ago on its first day of release. It was brewed for the 10th Anniversary of IPA Day, August 5, in collaboration with The Brew Kettle, who used the same hops to brew their "Hazy" IPA for the event.

A - Clear gold with a 1 finger white head a mild lace.

S - Tropical fruits, peach, light pine, bread with honey. Not dank. I could smell it from 2 feet away when I opened the can; a good sign.

T - Peach, lemon-lime, lots of pine. There's a light malt backbone that adds some welcome sweetness to the fairly bitter-piney finish.

M - Light medium body and medium carbonation. Quite dry.

O - It's very good. I like it better than the "Hazy" version from The Brew Kettle because of the extra malt sweetness (although I would have enjoyed more). Since the same hops were used, the other flavors are similar. Of note, different yeasts were used.