Stay West
Breakside Brewery - SE Taproom

Drank 3/21/26. Canned 1/21/26
Pour is a clear, straw golden yellow. Great retention and lacing
Taste is peach, lemon zest nice balanced moderate bitterness with a bready malt backbone. Tropical fruit, berries

CAN:

B- / WORTHY

 

Decent clear yellow color. Effusive head. Gentle head. Perfume-like flavor on top of generic lager flavor. Prickly mouthfeel from light, small bubbles.

 

I enjoyed this 12 oz. can, poured into a pint glass. Just over 3 months old (may have subdued the hops a bit).

A balanced brew with good malt backbone. Not particularly piney or citrusy hops, bit instead a bit fruity.

As a fan of malty brews (regardless of style) this one will be tried again - next time fresh.

12oz can. Poured out a clear, golden orange color with a small, white head of fluffy foam. It left sticky rings of lace on the glass. It smelled of toasted caramel, orange, grapefruit, guava and resin. Sweet tropical fruit taste with toasted caramel and a sharp, piney bitterness.

 

 

 

 

Pours a clear amber with high, fluffy, soapy head.

Smell is fruity and citrusy with notes of pine, resin and some caramel and grass.

Taste is soft and fruity with some nice malty sweetness, balancing the notes of grapefruit, lemon and pine. Some hints of peach and green tea, and a solid bitterness. Excellent balance, and very easy to drink.

Mouthfeel is medium, sticky and well carbonated.

Overall, a great west coast IPA that I could keep drinking all night long.

Super solid take on the style. Unfiltered golden copper body. Big grapefruit and pine, nicely balanced with a moderate caramel backbone, bitter leafy herbal finish that lingers for a while but you just want to drink more of it. A nice WCIPA

San Diego transplant living in Southern Washington. This is a great San Diego style IPA. Kinda old school SD style...in a good way. Not over hopped. Classic hop profile. Would like more of these and less hazy IPAs. Breakside has a great malt Bill for IPAs. This is crisp and lighter body (not as heavy as Stone IPA). Good hop flavor and profile, not overdone (less hop forward than a Sculpin). Very drinkable at 7%. This is like a Pizza Port IPA (Jetty or Fish). While that is the norm down in SD, it’s a special beer up here that is not over malted. Well done Breakside!

Look: Clear light orange/dark yellow on the pour, bringing on a nice off-white head that leaves great lacing
Aroma: Orange-led citrus fruits, passionfruit, melon, some blueberry notes, and nice bready malts with some sweetness
Taste: Citrus explosion right away – orange and grapefruit, followed by lighter tropical fruit and berry notes. Rich malt sweetness weaves in and out and I also get some pine which I wasn’t picking up in the nose. Good bite and a medium dry finish
Mouthfeel: Lighter than the beer or ABV would suggest but plenty full and not at all watery. Medium-high carbonation as well with a spritzy finish
Overall: This is winning stuff here. I’ve always jived with Breakside’s non-hazy IPA’s and this one is no different. A very tasty WCIPA that hits all the citrusy and tropical fruit notes I dig plus a nice bite to finish things off. Lighter body than I expected but didn’t detract much from the overall feel of the beer

 

Crisp bright bitter ipa

 

12 oz bottle from Brewers Haven. Clear golden pour with one finger head. Aroma is sweet, dry and woody. Taste adds some wonderfully sweet caramel malts, with a gine bitter edge following and drying out in the finish.

12oz bottle

Pours two fingers of pillowy white head into my can-style glass, retention is very good. Initial lacing looks good as well. Body is a dark shade of yellow, clarity is high. Huge amount of bubbles coming up. Looks really nice so far.

Smells very southern hemisphere, zesty, sharp. I don’t get too much of the Simcoe listed, not very tropical. Mostly just citrus rind, with some of that southern zest. It smells fine, but not really my cup of tea, I feel like southern hops can be brought out and complimented much better than this.

Flavor is nice. First thing I notice is the simcoe in fact coming through, albeit somewhat subtly; berries berries berries. The aforementioned sharpness is quite forward. Citrus rind present as well. Flavor could still definitely be fuller, as this is a little bit more sessionable than I would like, but the flavors come together pretty well, and it’s all and all tasty.

Mouthfeel is nice enough, maybe a tad dry and sharp for my liking, better than it being too sweet I suppose. I like dry, but with sharp it can be a rough combo. Bitterness is pretty much what I’ve been calling sharpness, but specific to this hop varietal. Carbonation is slightly low, though not at all an issue. Body is relatively light, again, it’s pretty sessionable. Overall a little rough around the edges, but it’s a proper mouthfeel for the most part.

Drinkability is pretty good, with the exception of the occasional dry/sharp overload.

The appearance turned out wonderful. Retention was very nice, and the lacing was thick sheets all the way down.

Overall a nice beer, but certainly imperfect. I thought at first the flavor was an improvement from the nose, but upon second thoughts, it’s still just a little too abrasive at times. Again, dry and sharp are fine, but you need some balance when using both, and there is littler here. Coulda allocated a few more hops to late additions here.