Sou'Wester New England IPA
The Grizzly Paw Brewing Company

Sou'wester IPA is a hazy, pale, lemon rind colored beer with two fingers of rocky, bone white head. Head seems to be in no hurry to go anywhere.
Freshly baked bread and toast are the first thing I smell, holding the glass up to my nose. Bready qualities combine with aromas of damp earth before moving into obligatory hop notes. Notes of lemon juice come through in the center. Then, the hops. The hops are intense, yet not overpowering aromas of pine and a general sort of woodiness.
Taking a sip, my tongue is promptly punched in the palette by crisp, bitter hops. Then, flavors of malt. Bread dough and biscuit malts combine easily with hints of earth and more prominent flavors of lemon. This time lemon tastes like those hard, sucky candies your grandma always has. The finish is assertive, lasting bitterness in the form of pine and woody bitterness.
Flavors are assertive, balanced, and straightforward in a way that works well. All the flavors are there with no one aspect vying for dominance over the others. This IPA has just the character and balance necessary to make it an enjoyable pint.

 

Appearance - Pours a medium amber tone with three fingers of foamy white head.

Smell - citrus hops, bready and grainy malts, hint of caramel, orange and grapefruit peel, and other citrus fruits.

Taste - mild citrus hops then goes into the bready and grainy malt. The hint of caramel follows suit. The orange and grapefruit peel are lost in translation.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with light to moderate carbonation. Finishes sticky with the malts lingering.

Overall - An agreeable IPA that displays the elements to a respectful degree. I would like to see more from the hops and citrus flavours in the taste. Some minor adjustments will make this a standout.

 

 

650ml bottle - a 'New England' style IPA, but made with ingredients that very much espouse an 'old' England IPA. Yeah.

This beer pours a slightly hazy, pale golden yellow colour, with two fingers of puffy, rocky, and chunky dirty white head, which leaves some decent Continental Drift lace around the glass as it quickly blows off.

It smells of gritty and grainy pale malt, a lesser caramel sweetness, some hard water flintiness, complex orange, white grapefruit, and lemon citrus rind, and more leafy, weedy, and piney green hop bitters. The taste is bready and doughy caramel malt, mixed domestic citrus flesh, a further muddled tropical fruitiness, subtle earthy yeast, and more leafy, herbal, and floral verdant hoppiness.

The carbonation is adequate in its plain-Jane frothiness, the body a so-so medium weight, and mostly smooth, as nothing here possesses the gonads to have a go at the palatal norm. It finishes off-dry, the sturdy malt, and citrus/wet forest floor hoppy character winning the lingering day.

Overall - this is an appreciable and certainly approachable version of this sub-style of nouveau American IPA - all the typical metrics seem to be present. What isn't, however, is my interest for those douchebags over on Untappd (since there is so little local interest here) who complain about a lack of 'haze'. Get over your fucking selves, and just DRANK THIS!