In The Red
Barrier Brewing Company

Now that Untappd is aligned with this site & vice versa, I CAN let the cat outta the bag. I am a top user on both, but for different purposes. Here, all of my beers get thoughtfully reviewed with an attendant rating, hearkening back to the early days when the ONLY way to keep track of one's beers was to write a review. On Untappd, I almost NEVER give a beer a rating, but I check into them all, usually with a pic & a punny CANment. When Joe Sixpack interviewed me, he asked if Untappd had ChANged my drinking habits & my answer was a resounding "YES!" since I find myself chasing their Foursquare/Swarm-inspired badges. This will begin an ongoing deep dive into Barrier (& Friends) since they seem incapable of making a beer without CANlaborating with CANother brewery. Why? I am trying to close out Untappd's "Better Together" badge & further The CANQuest at the same time!

From the CAN: "India Pale Ale"; "Brewed with our friends Civil Society Brewing Company (SCBC)"; "Illustrated by Daniel F. Birch".

Okay, I gotta say, the label art is phenomenal! It is almost worth the price of admission by itself. I am an artistic guy, although words & paper are my medium of choice, but I totally dig edgy art. This shizznit iz edgy, yo!

M'man, Money, looks a bit nonplussed, yo! He's got an Overdraft Notice in the amount of $57,896.64, yo! 8=O Yo, Money, just how much did you spend on that grille, yo? CAN I help you with a Crack? Not crack, but a Crack! of the vent? That's cool? Right on, man! Hey, lissen, I dig your groovy scene so let's get a slow, gentle C-Line Glug on & we CAN rap further about your far out monetary woes. Man, they might be CANplaining that yer hazy onna deets, but brother, that is some NE-quality clarity that just appeared. Color was a gorgeous Golden-Amber (SRM = > 5, < 7), summoning forth The Gelt Gang of Mammon, Midas & Croesus. Suddenly, our $ woes were over as each of them brought us a bag of their finest gelt while they sampled the wares! I haven't seen them in so long & this was perfect timing on their part. Nose smelled like a freshly-felled pine tree! OMFG. Mouthfeel was big, thick, full & creamy, like a dollop had been scooped into my mouth & onto my tongue. Mmm. The taste was old skool PNW, yo! I was getting a groovy cool blast of pine mintiness followed by a far out citrusiness of orange/tangerine, grapefruit & pineapple. Phew! Why were we CANcerned? This is the shizznit, yo! I could totes drink this ALL day, yo! Finish was beautifully cool, dry & lingeringly citrusy. YMMV.

 

 

A: The beer is quite hazy yellow in color. It poured with a quarter finger high dense white head that died down, leaving large wisps of bubbles on the surface and some lacing running down the sides of the glass.
S: Moderate aromas of gooseberries, limes, and mangos are present in the nose.
T: The taste follows the smell and has additional notes of tropical fruits and hints of pine. There is a light amount of bitterness and faint bits of alcohol towards the finish.
M: It feels medium-bodied, somewhat crisp and rather juicy on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: In some aspects, this beer seems like a perfect blend of an American Imperial IPA and a New England IPA.

Serving type: can

16 ounce can into tulip glass, canned on 8/22/2019. Pours very hazy deep golden/orange/amber color with a 2 finger dense and rocky off white head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a large cap that lasts. Thick foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big tangerine, red grapefruit, lemon, lime, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, honeydew melon, guava, berries, citrus peel/rind, wood, mint, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, white bread dough, toasted biscuit, light honey, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and bready malt notes; with big strength. Taste of big tangerine, red grapefruit, lemon, lime, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, honeydew melon, guava, berries, citrus peel/rind, wood, mint, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, white bread dough, toasted biscuit, light honey, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of tangerine, red grapefruit, lemon, lime, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, honeydew melon, guava, berries, citrus peel/rind, wood, mint, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, white bread dough, toasted biscuit, light honey, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and bready malt flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance, and no lingering hop astringency after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Medium-plus carbonation and body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready/grainy, and fairly sticky/resinous/rindy mouthfeel that is great. Minimal warming alcohol for 7.7%. Overall this is an awesome NEIPA. All around awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and bready malt flavors; very smooth and easy to drink with the mellowly bitter/resinous/drying finish. Great soft feel, and not overly aggressive. Awesome Chinook, Citra, Centennial, and Idaho 7 profile. Extremely juicy, vibrant, dank, and earthy hops; with a nice sized wheat/oat/malt backbone. Mild residual sweetness with lingering resin dryness. A really enjoyable offering, and impressive style example as expected.