West Coast Juice Bomb
Sloop Brewing

 

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a medium golden amber with a one finger white head with great retention and solid lacing. Aroma of pale malt, citrus and fruit hops, orange, light mixed tropical fruit and a hint of pine. Flavor is pale malt, citrus, tropical fruit and piney hops, orange, mixed ripe tropical fruit, mild pine and mild light stone fruit. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. I generally avoid IPA with the word "juice" in the name because they tend to be NE style, fruit juice types I'm not that excited about. This one proudly declares "West Coast" and I'm always interested in East Coast takes on the style, so I got a can of this and was pleased to see it pour a transparent golden color with no haziness. And the hop bill definitely leans WC, although there is enough fruit flavor to justify the name. Many WC IPAs have a lot more fruit in their profile now and this does taste like one of those hybrids. It is a pleasant, if busy, hop bill, with nice citrus, interesting mixed fruit and even a little pine, especially in the finish. It has a subdued bitterness in the finish, but just enough to keep my interest and I appreciated the effort from this brewery that seems to lean to soft hazy NE style brews. Not one I'd seek out for a West Coast IPA, but pleasant and quite drinkable for a juicy take on the style.

 

Here's hoping this tastes as good as it looks. With two twelve ounce cans emptied into a clear glass liter mug, a mildly cloudy dark, yet bright amber colored liquid is observed. There's a proper white head on top, quite a nice result from a new school IPA. There's some grainy starches and hops, either piney or resinous, to the aroma. Initially, this seems to taste a little sweet in a bread-like way. Then a drastic transition brings a hop experience that runs from resinous and earthy, to piney dry and bitter. This is close to being the epitome of what a West Coast style IPA should be. That it's brewed by an East Coast outfit that makes some of the softest, yet flavorful NEIPAs is commendable. The mouthfeel runs a little light for an IPA in general, but that happens more frequently within the West Coast style. When the label says West Coast Juice Bomb, take it to mean a hop bomb. This isn't fruity, but it is a bomb for a hop lover, in a good way. Despite the initial sweetness, this doesn't have the complete malty balance of the standard IPA. That probably shows in the very limited amount of glass lacing. But, that's not what WCIPAs do.

12 oz, undated can.

Pours medium almond amber, with more then a slight haze….large and lasting fluffy cap, leaving a bunch of froth, lace and sheeting.

Snappy hop sniff, with some resin notes coming forward.

On the palate, it’s more quite resiny hops and apricot notes in the rear end..biting resiny notes…

….not my favorite “Juice bomb”

 

 

A real throw back IPA. Less west coast IPA and more malty English IPA. Pours clear golden. Malty, resiny, low to no citrus. I would call this a juice in any way.

Poured into a wide mouth, grip shaped goblet: color is darker gold, hazy but not dense, head is off white and presents 1/4 inch thick, then dissipates to thin top/ring along the glass with some spotty lacing.

Smell is citrus and stone fruit, light pine, sweeter malt with a toasted and light caramel note.

Taste is citrus/stone fruit/earth/pine with sweeter toasted/caramel malt notes.

Mouthfeel is low/moderate carbonation, moderate sweetness, moderate bitterness that lingers on the tongue.

Overall a moderately hopped, sweeter IPA - not quite old school but more hoppy/bitter than other hazy sloop offerings.

Can pour into a tulip glass. Bold hazy yellow orange with a bountiful beige head. Grapefruit, pineapple, hops, and pine. Thick bold crisp mouthfeel, with a juicy dry finish.

 

 

A: The beer is relatively clear yellowish amber in color and has a moderate amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a short off white head that quickly settled down, leaving a thin collar around the edge and lots of lacing down the sides of the glass.
S: Moderate aromas of tropical fruits are present in the nose along with hints of pine.
T: The taste follows the smell and also has notes of apricot-like flavors. There is a moderate amount of bitterness.
M: It feels medium-bodied and crisp on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: I found this beer to be a lot easier to drink compared to what I would have expected considering its strength.

Serving type: can