Psychic Life Coach
Grimm Artisanal Ales

Pale straw look, light lacing and head. The fruit detected on the nose sort of citrus meets the tropics - orange meets mango. The flavor profile is a bit more forward than the nose. The fruit is still there but now we feel the piney resin with a juicy finish. Very little bite here which is very welcome. A sweet but not too sweet mouthfeel.

Look: Pours a hazy light orange with white head.
Smell: Not a strong smell but there is a botanical character, with citrus, mostly oranges.
Taste: Not bad, maybe some melon and orange peel. Not very bitter for an IPA but still, pretty good.
Feel: Not too rich, not too thin, good for an IPA.
Overall: Typical IPA, except with less bitterness.

Been a blast finding and enjoying all of these newly-distributed Grimm IPAs in my Massachusetts distro area. Even though I found Tesseract to be a bit of a letdown (I somewhat blame myself for the extremely-high expectations, however), Lambo Door, Butterfly Door, and Fluffy Tufts have all been great beers in their own ways. This new one is hopped with Idaho 7, El Dorado, and Rakau. I don't think I've had a beer that focused specifically on these three hops, but the combination leads me to believe this will have some apricot, pine, papaya, and passion fruit elements. Let's see how accurate my guessing is!

Pours a gorgeous hazy golden-orange color with a superbly built head of fluffy, thick foam measuring almost three full fingers upon a first pour! Lace is excellent, but the legs are even more sumptuous and well-rendered. Damn, Grimm! This is quite the looker. The suds just last and last, and the hazy body is definitely fairly attractive on its own.

The nose leads off with strong dank pine resin and a touch of woody tannins/black tea-like notes that really drive home the I7 inclusion. Juicy melon/cantaloupe, blackberry, boysenberry, passion fruit, papaya, and a hit of sweet red grape (which I definitely did not expect). This is an absolutely odd hop combo, but it all comes across with an overwhelming "dark fruit meets tropical fruit" feeling that I can safely say feels almost 100% alien to me... but I like it!

First few sips feel like they focus on juicy nectarine, passion fruit, and mango with a slight tartness (perhaps imagined, but it's definitely perceived in some way, shape, or form), all backed up by a tannic structure that gives off more tea-focused aspects in the finish. Not much bitterness here, but it also doesn't feel like the traditional "NEIPA juiciness." This is definitely doing something quite unusual, but I expected that from the inspired, oddball hop combo. What I didn't expect is just how well this all works together. The finish is a touch mineral-y with some yeastiness and crisp, pilsner-like shades of graininess, but the hops still shine with all sorts of unusual aspects ranging from melon to tropical fruit and a lot of stuff in between. Always psyched to try new Grimm beers because they typically at least give me a master-class in hop utilization even if I don't like what's happening in the recipe itself. This is a good one, and I would recommend picking it up!