Sunset Vibes
Florida Avenue Brewing Co.

 

As someone who favors bold, hop-forward IPAs with bite and backbone, Sunset Vibes Guava IPA felt more like a fruit spritzer in disguise. It pours a striking pale gold with a gentle haze and elegant lacing—visually, it hits the mark. The aroma is vibrant and inviting: ripe pink guava, citrus, and a touch of sweet bread. But from the first sip, the beer leans hard into the fruit, with guava and honey-like sweetness stealing the spotlight. There's crisp carbonation to lift it, but the bitterness is almost nonexistent, and the malt base is too soft to provide balance. Any hop presence—despite the Citra dry-hopping—is fleeting at best. It's juicy, yes, but overly so, and the lack of contrast makes it feel more like a flavored ale than a true IPA. For fans of sweet, tropical-forward beers, this might be a welcome change of pace. But for hop lovers, it’s more charm than character. Sunset Vibes delivers on its name, but for me, it was a one-time vacation, not a beer I'd book again.