Rinse / Repeat - Brut IPA With Citra
Westbrook Brewing Co.

 

 

1 Pint can canned on 5/3/19

L - Bronze golden, with no clarity, and 1 full finger of head. Gorgeous brew

S - Big dank hop aroma. Wow.

T - Big juicy hop flavor. Very dry. Tasty!

F - Dry and medium carbonation

O - Westbrook nailed the Brut style, with one of the best juicy hops out there in Citra. Well done!

 

Had poured from pint can, bottom stamped (apparently) canned on “05/03/2019,” into nonic pint.

Pours slightly hazy deep gold with 1-finger foamy off-white head, which dissipates to a persistent film, pulling some chunky, splotchy lace down the glass. Big aroma of apples and mild hop spice, and some dry malt in the back. Begins with carbonation, then dry malt, then mild stone fruits including apple, and a very drying finish.

IMO, the Brut IPA was recognized as a distinct style too soon. The only common denominator in Brut IPAs appears to be the addition of a drying enzyme. This excellent beer drinks like a very dry but otherwise old-style APA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A: Pours a cloudy almost murky pale to medium golden yellow in color with moderate to heavy amounts of fine active visible carbonation rising along the edges of the glass and faint apricot + bright medium yellow colored highlights. The beer has a two finger tall dense sudsy foamy off-white head that reduces to a medium sized patch of medium thick film surrounded by a large patch of very thin film covering the remainder oft he surface of the beer and a thin ring at the edges of the glass. Moderate to significant amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate aromas of citrus/grapefruit, citrus/grapefruit zest, tropical/pineapple, floral, and spicy/peppery hops over the top of light to moderate aromas of bready + biscuit malts with a light amount of light fruit (white grape) sweetness.

T: Upfront there are light to moderate flavors of bready + biscuit malts with a light amount of light fruit (white grape) sweetness. That is followed by slightly stronger than moderate flavors of citrus/grapefruit, citrus/grapefruit zest, tropical/pineapple, floral, and spicy/peppery hops which impart a hint of bitterness which does not linger for long leaving a light citrus hop flavor lingering.

M: Light to medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Slightly crisp with a slightly heavier than moderate amount of dryness.

O: Easy to drink with well hidden alcohol and a pleasantly dry mouthfeel. Enjoyable and pleasantly highlighting Citra hops. I could easily have a couple of these.

(1 pint can, 2812-2813 08/31/18 stamped on bottom... poured into a Chouffe tulip)

L: very hazy (pretty much cloudy), yellow-amber liquid; tall, cottony sponge of off-white foam, breaks into frothy rocks... foam ends up collapsing to thin, messy collar, though one or two thick streaks of lace cling behind

S: big orange pop outta the gate, notes of juiced grapefruit flesh, pineapple; faint white pepper note... very familiar Citra aromas... good potency; faint whiff of booze at the back... full, but not vibrant aromas

T: immediately detected a deficit of malty foundation (but not malt-free), sharply-clipped finish with little residual sweetness; the other big apparent element up front is a green-leafy, lightly-bitter, vaguely under-ripe banana-peel 'root' to the (grape)fruity hop flavor being exposed by the absence of malt balance - interesting... almost like hop extract dumped into a semi-neutral (aka aal?) malt fluid?... to be true, a mild, lightly-baked, simple white cookie malt note starts to peek out from the back, also a nip of spicy alcohol

F: certainly flat, polished, near-vanishing dryness in its finish; bit of a spicy warmth lingering... very mild silty texture to its lithe body; bit of a tingle (and acidic flavor) on the back end that perhaps reminds me of seltzer, but I wouldn't consider this effervescent (or champagne-like)... lovely dryness nonetheless; the hop resins (and booze?) give this what little dimension it has

O: so... is this just an extra-dry NEIPA then?... my first foray into Brut IPA; judging solely on the noticeable clip and dip in malt (balance) in its finish, this is the style's sole calling card?... I would have to try more examples to get a better sense of the ethos here, what uniquely differentiates these from other dry IPAs... not bad, but not groundbreaking - hopped-up pale malt liquor (IPML?)

Received as part of @Dragginballs76's generosity during NBS BIF #8
Chill haze turns a golden orange body opaque with a nice finger or so of egg shell white foam. Solid retention.

Nose is sweet and floral initially, with some white wine grape must. Sharp and tart but with a squishy floral depth. Mellows pretty significantly pretty quickly. Initial pour I'd probably give a 4.25, but once it settles in and warms up maybe closer to 3.5.

Flavour follows an inverse trajectory from the nose. Lighter and less exciting initially, as I work through the glass and it warms up the dimensions expand and everything just gets a little more pronounced, almost like those old dehydrated dinosaur toys from when I was a kid where you just add water and they expand to full size.
Anyway, what are those flavours that are expanding? Citra goodness. There's some citrus and sweet floral element. Finish culminates with undeniable champagne notes in that kind of sour/bitter/sweet way that the bubbly brings. I like the lead in better than the finish.

Body is smoothe with a blanket of motion activated exuberance and that dry champagne character dominates as soon as the liquid is gone.
I'm grateful to have gotten the opportunity to have tried this, though it has not significantly swayed my feelings on this subgenre of IPA in general. Thanks Mike for sending this along!

 

 

 

 

L - 2-finger fluffy white head atop a translucent orange body.

S - grapefruit and pine. A classic ipa nose.

T - slightly bitter grapefruit, caramel, pine. Low bitterness. Low sweetness. Low booziness.

F - medium body and carb.

O - strikes me more as a traditional ipa than anything newfangled. Definitely my favorite of the “Brut IPAs” I’ve tried.