Mango Shake
Westbrook Brewing Co.

look: Hazy peach. Big off white head on the pour that almost entirely subsides.
smell: Tropical fruits and cream.
taste: Much like the nose with a grapefruit bit of bitterness in the finish.

 

L - Orange juice, cloudy and gorgeous

S - Fresh squeezed orange juice spiked with champagne. Mimosa?

T - Delicious, citrus hops, and some booziness.

F - Full body and medium carbonation.

O - Tasty brew! Get it if you can find it!

On tap at the Beer Station (SC).
This looks like a Mango smoothie.
Nice fruity aroma but not distinctively mango.
The flavor brings more mango and low bitterness.
Low carbonation in a medium body. High acidity.

IPA brewed with lactose, vanilla, and mango. Poured from a can into a New Belgium tulip. The pour is orange and downright murky with a very thin head. The nose is bright and fruity with notes of mango, orange, grapefruit, and a hint of vanilla.

Medium body with an oily feel. Very sharp hoppy flavor with some nice mango notes. It tastes to me like the hops are a bit over-extracted, lending the beer an unpleasant, pithy bitter flavor. I was all set to criticize the beer for its low carbonation, but more gas would probably make that harsh bitterness even more pronounced. The bitterness carries through the finish and lingers a bit, diminishing the drinkability.

Good call brewing this beer with a nice mango flavor. If it wasn't in this beer, I'd be giving it a much lower rating. As it is, there are some serious flaws. Perhaps some additional vanilla and/or lactose would have softened it up some and improved the flavor. I bought this beer because Westbrook is a well-known and respected brewer and I thought it would be a good beer to pit head-to-head against Mango Milkshake IPA from Braxton Labs. Alas, after trying this I'm afraid there's no point. The Braxton beer would win in a first-round knockout.

A: Pours a slightly murky opaque thick viscous bright golden orange (the color of pure mango juice) in color with light to moderate amounts of fine active visible carbonation rising along the edges of the glass and faint bright yellow + bright orange colored highlights. The beer has a two finger tall soapy sudsy foamy off-white head that quickly reduces to a small to medium sized patch of extremely thin film and a very thin ring at the edges of the glass. Minimal amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate aromas of juicy slightly sweet mango and light aromas of vanilla over the top of light aromas of biscuit + grainy + oat + wheat malts with a slightly heavier than light amount of lactose sweetness. Light to moderate aromas of tropical/overripe pineapple + citrus/grapefruit + pine/resin hops.

T: Upfront there is a light flavor of biscuit + grainy + oat + wheat malts with a slightly heavier than light amount of lactose sweetness. That is followed by moderate flavors of juicy slightly sweet mango and light flavor of vanilla. Finally there are light to moderate flavors of tropical/overripe pineapple + citrus/grapefruit + pine/resin hops which impart a light to moderate amount of lingering aggressive bitterness.

M: Just shy of medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Slightly crisp initially with a moderate amount of lingering dryness in the finish. Fairly astringent.

O: Drinks fairly easily considering the strength but it lacks the soft/fluffiness in the mouthfeel of most milkshake IPAs and is a little too bitter/astringent. Enjoyable and the mango works well with the vanilla, lactose, and tropical + citrus hops.

L: Had this on-tap Westbrook, poured into a taster glass. Had an orange color and a thick, viscous consistency. Looks like orange juice. There was a thin, foamy, off white head that quickly dissipated. Not much lacing.

S: A pretty good aroma of tropical fruit, hops, citrus fruit, malt, and vanilla.

T: Tasted of a small amount of malt (mostly in the finish), light hops (not a big component), a moderate amount of mango (not as big a component), a little lactose, and some vanilla. A fairly sweet and surprisingly subtle flavor. It's not as heavy on the mango as I expected, but it still manages to work pretty well.

F: A below average amount of carbonation with a smooth, creamy finish. Medium-bodied.

O: A solidly made IPA. Worth a look.

Canned 05/15/19.

The pour on this is really nice, an opaque golden yellow. Looks just like mango nectar in the glass, without much of any noticeable head as the beer settles nearly flat.

I’d been hearing that the mango was almost non-existent in this beer, but I definitely get some tropical sweetness on the nose. Coupled with undertones of tangerine and pineapple, the aromas introduce this beer nicely. Predominantly juice, with a touch of hop grassiness on the tail.

On the palate is a very different beer, but still very tasty. Not much mango, but a distinct underripe pineapple flavor that works nicely with a predominance of grassy, fairly bitter hops. It lingers a bit more than I like, but starts really nicely.

Medium bodied, with a sharpness from the carbonation and as I mentioned, an unpleasantly bitter lingers on the tails. There’s a touch of numbing booze as well that isn’t hot, but you feel it on the tongue.

 

Looks like a viscous orange juice with a half inch white head that left little lacing. Smells of mango and pine. Tastes of under ripe mango, resin, a bit of vanilla and a drop of lactose sweetness. Medium bodied and carbonated, lingering dry finish, moderate to high bitterness.

 

 

Beautiful deep orange color with about a 1/2 inch head. Smell is heavy piney hops. Flavor is all bitter hops. Very little in the way of mango flavor. Maybe a little vanilla. The hops are so bitter that I couldn't finish the can. Bitter bomb.

 

Canned 10 days ago. Mangoes, vanilla, and lactose. Surprising amount of bitterness. Perfect suds for the beach which is where I am crushing this.