Blue Mondayz
Finback Brewery - Glendale

 

Had a small taste at the brewery - not for me. Very sweet and lactosey.

 

Appearance: A cloudy ruby with a puffy white head that recedes to film fairly quickly.

Aroma: Has kind of a jammy blueberry smell. Doesn’t smell like an IPA. Berries, malt lead.

Taste: Blueberries! Big blueberry jam note up front. Malt sweetness. Some hops on finish. Some booze.

Mouthfeel: The flavor is a bit severe to take this one swiftly. Best sipped.

Overall: Weird but tasty beer. Best as dessert. Doesn’t really strike me as an IPA. Pleasant, though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I guess this is supposed to be kind of a "milkshake IPA" deal by Finback and Bunker. At first, I was excited that it didn't list lactose under the beer's name on the label, but reading closely to the actual beer description indicates that, along with the dry-hop being composed of Mosaic and Azacca (good choices for this beer concept, for the record), this actually does include the much-maligned milk sugar as an ingredient. And I had such high hopes.

Kidding, kinda. But I don't really like most of this style of beer that I've had. Gonna go in with an open mind, though. Pours a nearly-totally-opaque ruby-red color with a somewhat ruddy-brown complexion to it. Good, retentive off-khaki head that has awesome legs and leaves behind definitive lace as it sinks slowly. This is a bit crazier looking than I figured it would be (I thought it would be a little more, uh... pale?), but I'll throw it a bone. For what it actually is, this looks pretty great.

The nose is slightly-plasticy and very forward about the stemmy blueberry, grassy and herbal notes up front. Light notes of vanilla, raspberry and pie crust come forth as well. Somewhat jammy with a light dankness from the Mosaic, some tropical suggestions (maybe guided by the Azacca?) of pineapple and guava... this actually has a decent amount of surprisingly-cohesive stuff going on. Now I just really hope it doesn't completely let me down in the taste and/or feel department(s).

Well... it's definitely a honey/blueberry beer. This drinks a bit like a fruited mead, for sure, just with some carbonation and resinous hoppiness that comes across in the transition to the finish. I just don't like marketing this kind of thing as IPA, as it seems reaaaaaally disingenuous. This definitely feels like... I dunno, a hoppy braggot? American strong ale? Imperial fruited ale? Classifications for this type of thing definitely feel like they slip through the fingers, but the flavor profile is actually good for what it is. It's balanced, and the vanilla/lactose doesn't crowd everything out or completely dull the experience. I like the malt backbone here, as well... it does give it an almost pie-like flavor. It's just not an IPA by any stretch, even though it's hoppy. The Mosaic does good work here, and the Azacca feels like decent support, but they just lose out to the other adjuncts at the end of the day. Feel is thick and chewy, but still has some drinkability to it. This is fun, and definitely interesting, and surprisingly successful, but I just have issue with its classification. Take that how you will, but I hope you'll give this one a shot while you can. It's pretty cool, and Bunker is one of the cooler upcoming New England breweries, so I'm happy (and somewhat flabbergasted) to see Finback working with them!

Can. Pours with a blue/purple hue. Decent sized head with hints and tints of blue as well. I thought this was an interesting beer but calling it a Double IPA is a stretch. It is more like a fruity strong ale. Not a ton of hop presence. Definitely lead by the vanilla, blueberry, honey, and lactose.