Subtropic
Hitchhiker Brewing Company

 

Subtropic Grapefruit IPA – from Hitchhiker. Acquired 24/11/23 from Franklin Beer, Franklin, PA. $ 4.50 (Including tax)/16 fl oz can bottle, $ 0.282/fl oz. Reviewed 06/12/23 (Review 3186). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Stamped on bottom of label, fuzzy and faint, “7/27/23”. In reefer at the store, stored at 34 degrees at home. Served at 54.5 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 56.3 degrees F.
Appearance – 3.
First pour – Straw (SRM 3), hazy, nearly opaque.
Body – Gold (SRM 5), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear-lite, same.
Head: Large (Maximum 5.5 cm, aggressive center pour), champagne, medium density and fizzy, dropping to a 0.5 mm crown, and a partial cap of near-microscopic bubbles.
Lacing – Absolutely none.
Aroma – 3 – Weak grapefruit. No yeast, no malt, no alcohol (6.4 % ABV as marked on the label).
Flavor – 3 – Weak grapefruit flavor and only slight bitterness. No yeast, no malt. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. No gastric warming.
Palate – 4 – Medium; watery; soft and fizzy carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3.25 Just another citrus IPA with hidden ethanol. Both the flavor and nose suggest grapefruit, but this lacks the expected turpentine bitterness. Don’t know if the date is the canning date or the outdate. Easy drinking. Looks like a NEIPA.

9 day old can in an IPA glass; decent taste, tangy, head disappears quickly, no lacing; not sure it was worth $17 for four cans