People Power 2020
Finback Brewery - Glendale

Two years ago, I purchased a four-pack of People Power 2018 to bring to a lake trip with friends and was pretty happy with the combination of Simcoe and Amarillo hops that were used for dry-hopping that beer. I ended up giving it a pretty good review, but noted that it felt a little muted on the nose. This, however, is a double IPA clocking in at 8.5% (compared to the 2018 version's 7.3% ABV), so it's likely that a higher hop concentration was employed anyway. And, regardless of all of that, this features a totally different hop profile consisting of Azacca, Amarillo, 007, and Sultana hops. Sounds really fun, let's get into it!

Pours an opaque yellow-orange color with a slightly deeper golden-orange color if held up to direct light. Lace falls down in a superbly-rendered, consistent sheet that actually looks more like a curtain of suds than anything else. My review of the 2018 PP release indicates that it was also really good looking, so I'll just leave it at that... Finback can make an awesome lookin' IPA when they want to!

I guess now would be an appropriate time to deal with the elephant in the room with regards to this new version of the beer... the hops! Where Simcoe and Amarillo featured in the last version, this one removed Simcoe, keeping Amarillo, but adding Azacca, 007, and Sultana. 007 aka Idaho 7 comes across with intense bergamot orange here, perhaps even moreso than any other beer I've experienced it in! This is almost exactly orange juice with some lighter herbal notes, florals, and a touch of apricot/mango playing around in the background. You can tell there's no Simcoe here, or this whole thing would be a lot more pungent and citrusy with touches of pine... Azacca helps keep it round and nebulous, for what it's worth. Sultana's dedication to pineapple is felt a bit here, as well. This is quite nice!

My first sip is round and well-defined with flavors of orange blossom honey, florals, light pine-ish resin, and a bit of candied grapefruit, backed up by a tight carbonation and mildly-lingering bitterness. The tannic notes of Idaho 7/007 are pretty apparent upon further sips, and some orange marmalade notes come out along with a bit of lavender and seductive herbal characteristics. Sultana, again, provides some pineapple and pineapple weed-like herbalness, perhaps bolstered by Azacca in that regard. Overall, this is quite nice. Perhaps not a four-pack purchase, as the flavor profile is a little too specific to have multiples of in a session, but your mileage may vary.

 

 

 

Tremendous stuff. One of Finback’s best, from
A wide swath of terrific hoppy beers, and stuff like this cements them as being in the very upper echelon of ipa brewers in the world. Just a perfect balance of fruity juicy elements with dank undertones and finishing bitterness, fluffy feel that still has tons of life on the tongue. So good.

 

The hop profile is excellent: Azacca, 007, Sultana, and Amarillo.
Tangerine, pineapple, tropical fruit, and citrus. Smooth.
Not too hoppy. One of my favorites from the brewery.