(No) Pumpkin IPA
Sloop Brewing

 

Initially pours a slightly hazy pale yellow with a fabulous, frothy, well-structured head. Once I got the whole can to fit in the glass, the sediment of the dregs changed this to a super hazy pale orange.

Aromas of grapefruit, orange, slight pineapple, white grape, and some berry that I can't place. There's also an underlying pine and damp earth dankness more like a WCIPA.

Starts off with all the fruit; orange and white grape are more prominent on the palate and grapefruit, pineapple, and still-undetermined berry all take part. Through the middle of the sip, grape and berry come out a bit more and then mix with earthy and resinous hops. On the finish, fruit and pine continue their embrace, with echoes in a long aftertaste.

Medium-light bodied with moderate carb. Slightly smooth but lively with carb that lingers on the tongue throughout the sip.

Overall, this is a great mix of NEIPA and WCIPA characteristics, with the earth/pine/resin giving the beer an edge and keeping you coming back for the next sip. But best of all: no damn pumpkin.

 

Poured a a slightly transparent, light-gold body with large head that slowly died. The aroma is sharp and acidic with hints of pine and grapefruit in aroma. Light body, a little too piney and dank for me as it's more bitter and sharp than citrusy or like grapefruit as it has a cutting finish, but beer is still good and worth trying if you like a less fruity and more earthy/dank NEIPA.

This one appears as a dull, pail orangish-yellow liquid within a Pretentious Glass Co. Pub Pint. A long lasting 2" frothy off-white head gradually compresses to a cream, before holding at 1/2". Thick patches of dense lace is left on the glass, which the beer takes on an opalescent quality, rather than presenting any highlights.

Orange and mango are strong in the opening, with pineapple following. The is an unfortunate catty onion aroma that builds, slowly displacing the citrus. Earthy pine blossoms to a secondary component before quickly fading.

This is certainly more in the West Coast camp, far more bitter than I think a NEIPA ought to be. Definitely far less fruit that I expect of a NEIPA, with a focus on pine and onion. It has very little sweetness, and a moderately long finish.

The course texture works with a medium body to give an impression of worn denim. Abv is mild, as expected, as is the soft carbonation. Astringency is light, as expected of a NEIPA, not a West Coast IPA.

Consider this to be a decent Hazy IPA and enjoy it as such. Sloop has better NEIPA offerings. This one will work with casual conversation and perhaps even tortilla chips in nacho cheese sauce.

i think its funny how they approach these "seasonal" beers, none of the usual squash and spices in this one, and just like no santa, this is just a real good ipa without the typical flavors of the season, no complaints from me, although i do have a soft spot for pumpkin beers, always have. this isnt that though, and its delicious. blonde as the hazy types go, yellow and middle of the road in terms of apparent density, nice frothy white head almost an inch high from the tap and fading only slowly. the nose is fruit forward, not overly dry hopped, and without a ton of grain interference, seems fresh as can be, and pops with almost summery notes rather than it having anything to do with the fall, meyer lemon and lemongrass, coconut water, tangerine, and green grape, slightly grassy but also kind of light overall which i dig. faint vanilla up front in the taste, more coconut, white tea, mellow papaya and clementine character, tropical for a flash, but citrus dominates the back end too. oily but never dense to drink, and it finishes clean for a hazy. freshness is there, grain is light, body is soft, carbonation is popping, and there is no residual bite, some sloop hoppy stuff gets pretty intense but i could pound on this one. a nice alternative to the pumpkin beers of the season, even though there is nothing fall about this, very well made and distinctive on the hop side.

Good NEIPA and clever name..an Autumn beer without Pumpkin/Pumpkin spices. Poured from a 16 oz. can into a pint glass, this beer featured a dense straw yellow color and a big foamy white head with good retention and thin bands of lacing on the glass. A bit more robust than most NEIPAs but the bitterness level is about average. The aroma and taste include a heavy blast of grapefruit and a dankness that reminds me of tobacco. Less prominent is a bit of maltiness. The grapefruit aroma catches your attention as soon as the can is opened. Mouthfeel is medium rich and a bit crisp. The dank/tobacco like flavor keeps this from being just another nondescript NEIPA. Very enjoyable!!!!

 

 

Sloop Brewing Co. "No Pumpkin"
16 fl. oz. can "CANNED ON09/02/22 09:01" and sampled on 10/23/22
$5.49 @ Total Wine & More, Cherry Hill, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: He-he-he! "No Pumpkin" ~ I love it! I'm not against pumpkin or spiced beers myself but I totally understand it. The body is a cloudy straw gold beneath a three finger thick head of white foam; maybe I poured it a little too roughly. In the nose I'm finding a floral and citrusy character that's like pink grapefruit flavored hard candy. Interesting. The flavor retains some of that - it's not sweet like candy - and there's more than just grapefruit. There's an unusual kind of garlic/onion thing going on that remins me of Summit hops. Are they in there? I don't know but I can't imagine where else that might be coming from. I got a little bit of that in the aroma but I wasn't sure about it; now I am. The fruitiness is also more complex. It's not really that rich so it's hard to pick out specifically what's there but I'm going to go with passionfruit, mango, papaya, peach, berries, and dull pineapple and orange. It's very interesting because, as I said, it's not a really rich beer and yet there's a complexity to it. As to the malt, that's light as well. It's lightly sweet and oat-like; it reminds me of a water cracker. How strong is this guy? 6%, yeah that makes sense. It's not that bitter but there's some, and it's slightly acidic. Is that "hop burn"? I'm not sure. I think it is but it's light. In any case it manages to finish mainly dry, I guess because the malt isn't that intense. A fruitiness lingers that's usually a composite of what's in there but sometimes I get specific notes showing more than others; right now I've got passionfruit. Some herbal character lingers in the finish, or is that the garlic and onion thing from the Summit hops (if they're in there)? In the mouth it's medium bodied and velvety smooth across the palate with all of those extra proteins from the oats and wheat. A fine-bubbled moderate carbonation lends a gentle caress. I really like this one. I'm not sure exactly why it's a fall release but somehow that makes sense as it reminds me of the crisp air in fall. The head has held up remarkably well, and there's some pretty good lacing. If the lacing had been just a little bit better I'd score it a 4.5 out of 5 given that I've still got about a quarter inch of foam covering the entire surface of the beer ~ that's good head retention! All in all this is a curious, charming, refreshing, and highly quaffable beer that's refined rather than brash or bombastic and overall quite unique. I think it will generally fly under the radar because of its subtlety but I highly recommend it.
Review #8,340

 

On tap in Sloop's hometown of Po-town, City of Sin.
Slightly hazy ( for a Sloop) medium orange color with a tighty whitey head. Good lacing but lacks retention.
Citrus nose with a Jolly Rancher underlying sweetness.
Nice balanced IPA flavor - sharp, fruity hops blending with tepid malt presence, hints of vanilla bean and grapefruit under the soft twang of wheat and mercifully, no pumpkin spices.
Body is on the heavy side of light and the finish is tart with lingering citrus.
A bit boring but highly drinkable.