If You Like IPA Dilute 3:1
Other Half Brewing - Center Street

Pours a thick, cloudy, pale gold, bright as a glass of orange juice with a persistent foamy head. As bright as it looks, the nose is as well, pungent, sour orange seems to leap out of the glass. Flavor profile is unique amongst HIPAs, clean, sour orange bordering on grapefruit hinting at melon. Sharp, strong, but medium-heavy bodied. This is a fantastic collaboration.

 

Sure, if you like IPA you could dilute it but with something this good, why thin it out? This was another winner from Other Half and the first beer that I ever had from CRAK and the end result was something that was somewhat familiar while being lively and a tad exotic at the same time, as the end result did not stay in my pint glass for very long!

This had a good pour to it as the liquid was a dark gold that was uniformly opaque, without any sediment floating in it. A moderate, but bubbly and long-lasting head topped it off as the lacing left behind was quite extensive and easily covered a majority of the inside of my pint glass. A few pointed hints of rings emerged in the middle as the sheets were wondrous to look at and one of the best I've seen in an Other Half brew in quite some time. Not a strong aroma to this but there were hints of orange, jack fruit, white grape, spicy wood, earthy funk, and deep booze in the nose as the taste had a bit of wheat, deep and turbid tropical fruit, feet, and an a damp, sweaty outdoorsy feel that tied everything in together. The combination of Citra, Strata, and Nelson Sauvin worked really well together as the sweetness took just enough of the edge off of the rougher aspects of this beer that ended up dominating in the end. The lip-smacking sweetness from the tropical fruits combined with the smoothness from the latter of the hops was an interesting mix, but one that kept me coming back for sip after sip.

Yeah, this was strong and yeah, the carbonation was recessed as the flavors were allowed to linger for the duration of my session. There was a nice slickness to it and I easily felt the alcohol and warmth kick in, although they were spot-on for this particular concoction. Once again, my only wish for this beer (as with so many of Other Half's recent offerings) was that it was not dated on the bottom, although I had this relatively soon after obtaining it. With that aside, this was a clear winner with strong hints of wine and old-world charm to it. It's hard to argue that anyone does collaborations better than these guys!