Sputniik ii
Comrade Brewing Company

 

delicious and modern west coast ipa done as a collaboration with riip, some giants of the style teaming up here, and the result is predictably exceptional. they keep the grain light on most of their hoppy stuff here and this follows that roadmap, mild pils type grain is all, its blonde, light in body, clear, and only balanced by the most contemporary interpretations of it, this is all hops, not a bad thing! golden in color, pretty clear, bubbly, simple looking. it smells fruity and new school, grapey sativa, mango, ripe melon, tangerine, peach, lemon, and pineapple candy, seems sort of thiol boosted to me even though i dont think they use anything for that here, they are just getting a whole lot out of these hops and its impressive, not dissimilar to others ive had from both breweries, but this one is really popping, subtle clover honey, white wine grape, and white grapefruit here too. the flavor is wonderful, so clean, like there is some oily dankness to this and its not subtle beer, but its so fast to drink, its dry, fermented clean, and with an easy body, quick carbonation too, like its only on the palate for a second or two. juicy and fresh as heck, weedy, sauvignon blanc notes and floral too, fresh citrus, cool hop complexion but it does all hit in an instant. the pungency of this is impressive, and its crazy that its neither all that bitter nor oversaturated in a harsh way. baller overall quality, easy drinking, precisely the new type of west coast ipa thats taking over right now, memories of quote malt backbones end quote are fading fast...