Smile Stash
Hop Valley Brewing Company

a delicious new ipa from these guys, this stash series keeps delivering. this one is done with all cryo citra hops, and benefits charity too, very cool! the hop profile is amazingly dynamic for citra alone, or mostly citra, ive been critical of this hop in a single hop context, but maybe the cryo brings another dimension, which has been true of other cryo varietals i have had before, like they start earlier in the flavor trajectory and seem more forward and intense, super fresh, no greenness at all, and i really like this beer, seems like a very summery ipa, with so little grain character to it and fermented very dry, albeit not as clean as it could be, not way off though, a little soapy maybe, but the bright lemon character of the citra really stands out as fresh and different and delicious to me, very dynamic for citra. good carbonation here too drives the hops pretty deep in the palate which i like, and the linger is oily without being vegetal at all, a common problem with the majorly dry hopped ipa types these days. i think this is really good, it could be a little tidier with the ferment, but its lovely beer, a great expression of citra, and something that stands out from the crowd in my opinion. one of the better hop valley beers ive had lately, i liked this a lot. i like the charity component too. i like cryo citra better than pellets in this context!