Galactica
Clown Shoes

12oz bottle poured into a red wine glass. Bottled 6/02/14 (AKA 7 days ago). Big thanks to BA ClownShoesDreams!

Appearance: Moderate pour yields a 2 inch frothy offwhite head with great retention. Pours a semitranslucent copper and leaves tight lacing.

Smell: Starts out very tropical fruit and tangeriney, with sweet malty undercurrents (malty as in "malt sweetness"; not bready or anything distinct like that) and some of that earthiness of other New Zealand hops. With time it gets profoundly herbal, like Perle hops on steroids (I hate to use "on steroids," but this is a beer review not a novel)--minty, earthy, and REALLY strong. As the beer warms up more, the previous aromas transform into powerful dank, weedy hop aroma.

Really exceptional nose on this beer; exemplifies why you need to chase down IPAs super fresh. The hop aroma is so profound that it bounces from savory and vegetal to citrus tinged strawberry and tropical fruit. A bit of a hop catalog happening here, like the best IPAs.

Taste: All the hops from the nose up front, leading to a surprisingly well-held up malt backbone; cereal grain and crystal malt flavor. Tangerine and weed up front; as mentioned in other reviews, I love the flavor combination of that kind of hop flavor and fresh cereal grain malt. The crystal malt flavor brings a sweetness that I normally find unwelcome, but it transitions to a sort of biscuity toasted malt flavor that brings out the spiciness of the hops. Relatedly, I'd usually want a bone dry finish, but the somewhat softer, less-attenuated finish just provides some prolonged enjoyment of the great malt backbone.

The hop flavor isn't as multifaceted as the aroma, but it kind of doesn't need to be. When the glass is in front of me, I'm taking in all that amazing aroma with every sip, and the dank, earthy, straightforward, slightly pine-tinged oily hop punch in the flavor serves as an exclamation point to it. Then it's a long malty finish that should satisfy any beer lover.

Additionally, at 8% the alcohol is maybe a bit TOO well hidden. This is so easy drinking that I could imagine a 4pack getting me into some trouble.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied. Low side of moderately carbonated, which is actually ample. Slight dryness in the finish but not much.

Overall: Fresh Galactica is a "wow" beer. That big, insistent marijuana and tangerine note in the aroma and flavor is enough to make me love the beer, and the not-so-trendy choice of having some sweetness and biscuity malt to counterbalance the monster hops makes it all the better.

I feel like I'm repeating myself, but Clown Shoes just keep putting out well-thought out beer after well-thought out beer. If you see fresh Galactica, don't sleep on it.

P.S. Shout out to Racetrack in Battestar Galactica, whose dispassionate performance implies that she's intimately familiar with at least one of the things this beer smells like.

Copenhagen 28/4 2016. 35,5 cl bottle (12 Oz) bottle from Meny, Østerfælled Torv, Kbh. Ø. Funny fellow in green clothes with a stick with hops on each end jumping around on the label.

Pours slightly hazy copper brown with white head. Stable. Settles as a paper-thin layer of foam just covering the surface of the beer. Moderate lacing.

Aroma of fermented tropical fruit like mango and passionfruit with tart citric notes. Lemon and lime.

Soft carbonation and slightly thick palate. Lightly tingling texture.

Flavor is sweet fermented fruit followed by a medium strong bitterness. Lingering. Grapefruity bitterness in aftertaste.

Well balanced DIPA which almost makes you forget the silly annoying guy in clown shoes jumping around.

RB transfer

 

My first IPA that I fell in love with. Whenever I travel to the East side of the U.S, I make sure to scope this fine beer out. Well balanced and always refreshing. Top 10 for me.

 

 

 

Clown Shoes Beer "Galactica West Coast IPA"
16 fl. oz. can coded "pkg 032 01/31/22 20:23" and sampled on 10/01/22
$4.29 @ Total Wine & More, Cherry Hill, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: It's poured a hazy deep golden slash orange colored body beneath a finger's width of rocky off-white foam. The aroma is piney and lightly citrusy over a sweetish and grainy malt base. This smells like a West Coast IPA to me because it's got that piney Chinook aroma to it. Was it always a West Coast IPA? On to the taste... well there it is again, that Chinook pine. I always use kid gloves when I brew with Chinook because if you use too much it can ruin the beer, especially if it's bitter. You get that bitter and piney-resinous thing going on and it just kills your palate. This, however, is nicely balanced. You get the pine but it's not overdone, and you also get the sweetish malt and citrusy hop notes. There's grapefruit, a little orange, and some mango and berries as well as a lot of herbs. What herbs? I'm thinking oregano and sage, and a brush of rosemary. There's a lot of floral character as well, and a note of apple to boot but there's almost always a note of apple in most beers, even in Budweiser. A firm bitterness anchors it and leads it to a dry and bitter conclusion despite the sweetness of the malt upfront. In the mouth it's medium bodied on the fuller side, and crisp with a fine-bubbled carbonation. The head held up OK, but not great, and the lacing was very good but not excellent. In my mind this is a very good example of the West Coast IPA style but perhaps a bit strong at 8% ABV.
Review #8,269

 

Research indicates this likely isn't exactly the Galactica IPA, nor the Galactica Imperial IPA, as they have different labels than this pint can. There's good and bad about emptying that can into a clear glass Imperial pint mug. The good is the bright copper-amber color and a head slightly tinted toward that color. The bad was the foaminess of what was a gentle pour, albeit at room temperature. Despite the bright, almost bold color, the brew is close to being translucent. Eventually, the head reduces to a modest level and it sustains. The aroma is a solid one, bringing both malt and piney hops. The taste is maltier than many West Coast styled IPAs. With the growing trend to reduce barley malt from IPAs, this is a welcome characteristic. What it also produces is a body that's vastly smoother and richer than most WCIPAs. Fear not, the malt doesn't make this taste any sweeter than the good ones in this category, which is regarded for the sharp hoppy bite it often provides. If it adds anything to the predominantly piney and resinous hop hit, it adds a layer of earthiness. Some may not like the richer and smoother body, as most West Coast IPAs, even the very good ones, flow a little thinner and lighter. But this is a great example of a Double/Imperial IPA, regardless of the category. The glass lacing is negligible and some of the alcohol makes it into the taste. To date, there is no West Coast IPA category here, so this gets rated as an IPA with a fairly high ABV. The rating is deservedly high, too.

 

 

 

Pours a slightly hazy amber with a foamy white head that ends as filmy lacing.

Smells slightly piney with some citrus.

Tastes of malt and slightly dank hops with some light citrus and melon with the slightest bitter finish.

Medium body and light carbonation. Light clean mouthfeel.

This is nice old school west coast IPA

 

 

 

 

Rich near clear amber with a whopping off white head that laces and lasts. I'm getting a whiff of mellow pine through the head. Hefty malt and hops play nice together and offer a fair bit of sweetness to this brew. I'm drinking it on the warmer side of the temp range. Decent medium body and mellow bubbles. Nice!