Luponic Distortion: Revolution No. 015
Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

(review from February 2020) Another well balanced, smooth LD variant with unusual, hard to pin down flavor & dryish aftertaste. Feijoa?? Kiwi?? Lychee??

355 ml can, from Vinmonopolet Bryne. ABV is 5.9%. Nearly clear pale golden colour, moderate white head. Fruity aroma of kiwi, lychee, pineapple and guava. The flavour has the same fruity elements, but is not too sweet, and has a distinct bitterness in the finish. Refreshing, good beer.

 

 

 

Well I knew at some point it would come to this, I would be writing a review for my least favorite of the Luponic series.

Pours the standard yellow honey golden color with decent clarity and 1/2" white head. The aroma was disappointing. All the commercial tug job about kiwi, lychee and whatever fejoia is (maybe it was true) didn't pan out. Had an herbal kind of weed pulling aspect to it (garden weeds, not marijuana). Shit might as well have been dry hopped with dandelion greens.

Taste is typical of following the nose, stuck with more of a bitter garden weeds and greenery than any fruit flavored hop notes. There is a mild green pepper note, like there were some ants on the dandelion greens. Previous beers that had lychee (new belgium) were enjoyable, so if that is what I'm getting here, I don't think its very well situated for an ipa. It just flat out doesn't have a tropical fruit (or fruit otherwise) edge to it despite the claim. Disappointing. I simply don't like the taste.

Pours as usual, crystalline clear. Hop aroma doesn’t really stick out. There’s a residual mustiness on this, somewhat dank on the end. Could be due to the three months since canning. Fresh as I could find it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today has become one of IPAs where yesterday was Pilsners. My next one is from some old friends of The CANQuest (tm) at Firestone Walker. I have enjoyed their beers for many years & when they CANmitted to CANning, I was elated!

From the CAN: "Hints of: Kiwi * Lychee * Feijoa"; "IPA Series"; "Flavors Through Hops"; "Keep Cold[,] Drink Fresh".

There has been a good bit of discussion in the Forums on here as to how many of us are able to identify flavors in beers. For my part, I spent a good bit of my time in the Navy eating FF&V (fresh fruit & vegetables) since I am not a big beef eater. I'm solid on kiwi, it has been a long while since I had lychee & I never even heard of feijoa so I am not going to play at being Mr. Know-It-All.

I Crack!ed open the vent to begin a slow, gentle C-Line Glug into the awaiting glass. I am so glad that I was patient as it formed two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, bone-white head with great retention. Color was a beautiful Yellow-Gold (SRM = 4 - 5) with NE-quality clarity & loads of unabating CO2 bubbles in evidence! This called forth The Gelt Gang of Mammon, Croesus & Midas for a taste. Nose was certainly tropical and fruity, but kiwi was definitely NOT at the forefront. Interesting. Mouthfeel was solidly medium. The taste had an unexpected bitterness after the sweet, fruity nose. I am getting smarter - Lychee is described as "sweet & tart", so definitely that. The taste was riotous, with notes of strawberry, watermelon, peach, pear & a mélange of tropical flavors! All without being overly sweet! That was my bugaboo with many of the Tropical IPAs - too sweet, not enough bitterness. This bridged that gap, at long last. Mmm. Man, this was a winner. I saw one user's suggestion that they ought to do a mixed-sixer of the best of the lot. I nominate this one for one of those slots. Finish was pleasantly dry & I could have drank more if I'd have had them on-hand. YMMV.

Type: 12-oz. can
Reviewed as: American IPA
Glass: Firestone 16-oz. Spiegelau IPA glass
Price: $9.99 for a 6-pack
From: Bine & Vine Bottle Shop in Normal Heights (San Diego), Calif.
Purchased: March 26, 2020
Consumed: March 26, 2020
Misc.: Canned on Feb. 13, 2020 at 2:35 p.m. PT; No beer label number (015, etc.) for the first time on this series

Picked it up a 6-pack of this along with 18 other beers at Bine & Vine Bottle Shop. This would be my 15th time having this beer in the series, keeping it going. In the past gave No. 001 a 4.09, No. 002 a 4.34, No. 003 a 4.15, No. 004 a 4.15, No. 005 a 4.07, No. 006 a 3.78, No. 007 a 3.68, No. 008 a 3.94; No. 009 a 3.85, No. 010 a 4.17, No. 011 a 3.92, No. 012 a 3.97, No. 013 a 4.27 and No. 014 a 3.82. Expecting this one to be in the same range (pretending No. 006 and No. 007 never happened). From their website, the description of this beer read, “The latest release of Luponic Distortion features a blend of southern hemisphere hops from New Zealand to create tropical flavors of kiwi, lychee and feijoa. ‘It's a very different terroir from the Yakima Valley where so many of our IPA hops are grown and hops from this region have some unique tropical fruit character showcased in this beer. While visiting the country's hop farms we had the opportunity to taste some amazing feijoa fruit, which comes through in their hops.’” Huh. No idea of feijoa fruit and just a vague recollection of lychee.

Poured a clear golden color with 2-to-3 fingers of frothy-to-rocky white head. Lots of fast-moving bubbles coming up from the bottom of the glass at fast speeds. World-class uneven foamy lacing. Perfect foamy, long-lasting retention. (Sight - 4.75)

Smelled lime, kiwi, mixed berry, watermelon, passion fruit and floral. From the can added green pepper and even some ashtray? (Smell - 3.75)

Taste wasn’t quite as good as the nose. In order got lime, kiwi, bitter grapefruit peel, passion fruit, mixed berry, dry grass, green pepper and lingering spice. (Taste - 3.50)

Medium body. Creamy texture. Average carbonation. Dry, spicy finish. (Feel - 3.50)

Not one of my favorite of the 15 by any means, but still very good overall. (Overall - 3.75)

3.69 | 83 | B

 

Picked up as part of a mixed 12 pack from my local grocer Frys on 3-23-20 for $1.17/bottle. Bottled on 1-27-20; consumed on 5-10-20. Cold stored since purchase.

Beer poured golden with a very nice white head that is leaving partial rings behind.

Nose is light fruits, pear and grape.

Taste follows the nose where the pear shines forth combining nicely with a light malt base. FInishes with a solid citrus rind bitterness; 8/10 on my scale.

Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied and refreshing.

Overall i like this South American hop variety!