Deftones Imperial Phantom Bride
Belching Beaver Pub 980

From a can packaged 4/8/26. Light amber color with foamy white head. Citrus aroma. Medium body with a sticky feel. Citrus and pine resin with some honey malt on the finish. Good flavor and well balanced for an imperial IPA.

this is really super good, i have been impressed with these guys and their new stuff of late, clean for its size, nice and hoppy but not at all oversaturated, and in an era where everyone is making imperial ipa cheap to hit a price point in the large format single serve can, this feels built to be good, not to keep cost of goods down, and i could not possibly be more in support of that, not sure what this cost, but it sure drinks high quality. pretty golden tone to this, unfiltered looking but not a hazy, churned up white head an inch high, puffy, lasting. its the amarillo and mosaic that do the most for me in aroma and flavor in this, ahead of citra and simcoe for sure, at least to my senses, herbal and spicy up front, canned pineapple and orange and lime leaf later, honey sweetness to the malt that highlights the hops really nicely right in the center, clean ferment and tidy overall on the swallow, decently high bitterness but not insane, enough to balance this out, drinks like proper strong west coast ipa, no frills, no quadruple dry hopping, no exotic hop products, no fruit terpenes, just beer ingredients put together really well, and for me this is quite a step up from the original phantom bride on the whole, not just in strength. i get subtle tangerine, mango, and even peach or peach candy as it warms, just a little alcohol sting which i like with the bitterness at the end, good body on it too but not overly malty in the old school sense, it stays pale and mild in flavor, but the structure is such that the high hop load is well supported, some oils on the palate, amarillo spice on the recall, lightly catty mosaic, but just enough to identify the varietal, great hop profile overall with some grapefruit from the simcoe also present. excellent and fairly straight ahead imperial, far ahead of what is selling nationally in this large can format...