Mylarshark
Bellwoods Brewery

 

 

Opaque grapefruit yellow with a big soapy head, substantial lace. Grapefruit nose with a whiff of overripe tropical fruit. Almost heavy on the nose. Big white grapefruit flavours. Sweet to begin, then intensely bitter. A lot of pith. Comes across as uneven. Big puffy mouthfeel.

I like Bellwoods, but I don't think this is one of their finer efforts.

Really hazy yellowish color with off-white head. Aroma is quite intense with dank and juicy hop notes. Taste has ripe pineapple, peach and dank hops. Finish has a good amount of bitterness. Really nice one, intense and juicy.

 

Serving: Bottle
No date


A:
Pours a cloudy pale gold with a couple fingers of gassy white head. Okay retention; a touch of lacing. (4)

S:
Mango, guava, a hint of sugar cookie sweetness, orange, weed. (4.25)

T:
Rich, green, full, leafy hop flavor (not bitterness, but definitely not fruity like the nose), and some white bread underneath. (4)

M:
Soft, faintly chalky body with soft carbonation and a relatively dry finish. (4)

O:
Very nice IIPA!
It pours about like you'd expect. The nose is very fruity but with a more robust green hop funk. There is also a touch of clean malt sweetness (sugar cookies/vanilla). The flavor is definitely the same beer but is more earthy and verges on bitter and dry (but is not quite there on either count). It is drinkable and enjoyable. I like it when there is still a pretty robust hop character rather than just juiciness and this delivers on that front. (4.25)

 

 

 

Body is the hue of pineapple or pale orange juice. Forms a decent white head on the pour, but this fizzles out within 30 seconds to a just a thin coating, not much in the way of retention.
Tropical fruit hop aroma, pineapple and passionfruit, touch of spruce, all very fresh and inviting.
Taste is right in line, with a milder fruitiness hitting the same tropical notes, and a bracing bitter kick that doesn't let out, making for a lengthy finish. I'm not a huge IPA fan, but can appreciate this - the bitter hops are clean and a slow burn, not pithy or astringent. A proper compliment to the sweeter fruit notes. Mouthfeel is clean and refreshing, medium carbonation and body, and with a sense of fullness from being unfiltered.

One of the better straight up IPAs I've had in a while, with balanced flavours and feel. It's not groundbreaking or experimental, just a straight up benchmark IPA.