Santa Claw
Westbrook Brewing Co.

 

Fresh canned 11/04/22

Picked up a single from TW-Greenville, SC on 11-16-21 for $5.99. Canned 11-4-21; consumed 3-6-21. Cold stored since purchase.

Beer poured a turbid orange with a pretty good white head.

Nose is nice, fresh tropical and citrus fruits.

Taste is a single ipa malt and oat base that combines with a blend of orange, grapefruit, and peaches. Finishes with a nice balancing rind hop; 6/10 on my bittering scale.

Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied and pretty smooth.

Overall a solid NEIPA, nothing spectacular.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

L: hazy, orange/yellow, tons of lacing
S: I get citrus and mango/tropical fruits
T: smooth, I get the fruitiness on the back of my tongue
F: good mouthfeel, but there’s something off about the finish, maybe it’s a bitterness
O: solid offering from Westbrook, recommended

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pours a hazy orange with a thin, bubbly, white head. Slight lacing.
Smell of Candied citrus grapefruit, tangerine, bitter hop, Some cinnamon type spice, Lemongrass, fruit punch.
Taste follows nose. Candied grapefruit and citrus hop. Tangerine and melon. good bitterness, slight dankness, and pepper/cinnamon spice shows up in the end.
Good medium mouthfeel with some pine resin.
A quality NEIPA.

Pours a cloudy, dark, sunset orange with a finger of yellow-tinted head. Solid retention and lacing.

Orange, mango, pineapple and allspice in the nose.

Spicy tasting — the Azacca shines — with the fruits from the nose combining with dough and smokey herbs.

Full mouthfeel with strong carbonation fizz.

This smells great, but the taste isn’t to my personal liking: the spicy, herbal quality from the Azacca is very strong.

 

 

16 oz. can dated 11/5/19

Hazy golden copper, no floaties, two fingers white head, spotty
lacing. Settles down to a full ring and continents of surface carbonation.

Fruit forward lemon and orange and tropical fruit scents. Light pine and floral aromas.

Tastes like pineapple, tangerine, grapefruit, pine, pale malt, mango, pepper.

Medium body, light hop bitterness up front, dryish finish.

Delicious. I’m happy that the ABV is not more than 7 %. As good but not better than Two Claw.

 

L: Poured from a tallboy can to a snifter glass. Had a yellowish / orange color and a very cloudy consistency. There was a half inch of foamy, somewhat long-lasting head. Fantastic lacing.

S: A solid aroma of citrus fruit, pine, malt, hops, tropical fruit, and spices.

T: Tasted of a mild amount of spices (cinnamon, in particular), a below average amount of hops (less than expected, but still a factor), a good shot of pine (surprisingly), some tropical fruit (mango), a little malt (mostly in the finish), and a bit of citrus fruit (orange). A light, fruity, and focused flavor. It definitely grows on you after awhile.

F: A good amount of carbonation with a smooth and creamy finish. Medium-bodied.

O: A likably solid beer. Worth a look.

 

 

Received as an extra in a trade.

A - Poured into my Duvel tulip a nice hazy dark orange hue with a fat super dense two finger head that faded slowly to leave rocky lacing and a thick blanket. Spot on for the style.

S - Aromas of flaked oats, decent citrus peel and juice, fair amount of malt sweetness followed by orange marmalade. Alcohol hidden nicely but as it warms that orange marmalade comes out even more assertive which is a tad one dimensional.

T - Taste is decent amounts of orange marmalade up front before becoming VERY spicy piney hops. I can see why they call this a 'holiday' IPA as the pine needs are quite aggressive to the point of not really meshing with the other hop characteristics. The juicy orange pops more as it warms but this spicy hop flavours linger throughout. Eh...

M - Mouthfeel is decent enough, little crisp, nicely creamy thanks to the oat. Alcohol hidden.

O - Overall this was a solid enough IPA. I thoroughly enjoy the orange/citrus notes here but I'm really not digging that spicy pine at the level it's at. Like someone mixed a watered down Ruination with a generic New England IPA. Bummer.

Serving Type: Can

 

 

 

 

On-tap at Calhoun Street Tavern, Bluffton, SC

A: The beer is clear yellow in color and has just a slight amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a short white head that left lots of lacing down the sides of the glass and a thin layer of bubbles covering the surface.
S: Moderate aromas of citrusy and tropical fruit hops are present in the nose.
T: The taste follows the smell and has flavors of oranges and mangos. Only a faint amount of bitterness is present.
M: It feels just about medium-bodied and crisp on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This beer has a nice citrusy and tropical theme to it and drinks very easily.

Serving type: on-tap