Smooth Hoperator
Cloud 9 Brewery

Draft at Cloud 9. Dark amber, light haze, small foamy head. Malts dominate the aroma and taste. Caramel, toffee, toasty. Light bitterness at the finish.

their latest seasonal ipa in here, a balanced and drinkable brew, if a little samey and less distinctive than i hoped it would be, hard to argue with fresh, quality, and local, so i wont, but i did expect a little more uniqueness from this, given how dynamic so many of their beers are. good but unexciting is still good, and this is that. a little bit of a fuller biscuity malt profile but without much sweetness, a relatively moderate hopping by current standards it seems, both in terms of bitterness and dry hopping properties, and a rather clean and tidy fermentation that helps this finish quickly, even refreshingly, but adds nothing to the flavor mix. the hops have some generic citrus properties, average bitterness, and really only stand out because they seem so fresh in here, could be mosaic, but its not quite bright enough to pop out and identify itself above the grain. almost drinks more like a pale ale, but a well made beer even if it fails to really be unique in any way. pretty much all the beer these guys make is delicious, and this is another good one, but they certainly do have some more memorable hoppy stuff in the lineup than this one...