Rick In Paradise
Refined Fool Brewing Co.

473 mL can from the brewery; no packaging date and served slightly chilled.

Pours hazy golden-yellow, fitted with an inch-thick cap of foamy white head that lasts for approximately three minutes. By that point, it has faded to a creamy collar and sudsy cap, flinging several strands of sticky lace onto the glass in the process; plenty more lace is produced with each sip. The aroma is mostly fruity, but with hints of mint and floral, slightly piney hops also coming through; melon, banana, pineapple and orange peel are all present.

Fruity hops dominate a flavour profile that starts out a little tangy: I'm getting honeydew melon, orange and lemon zest, with hints of green banana, orchard fruit and pineapple. These flavours give up some ground to floral, weakly resiny hops on the back end, with melon and orchard fruits dissipating into the aftertaste, which trends off-dry. Medium-full in body, with low-ish carbonation that weakly tickles the tongue, resulting in a smooth, soft, somewhat fluffy mouthfeel that suits the style. Decent drinkability - I could go for another.

Final Grade: 3.84, a B+. Rick In Paradise is a solid, fruity hop-forward IPA. While I wouldn't say it was amazing, I also can't find a whole lot to complain about here - the pair of hops the Fools selected are both relatively uncommon, supplying an array of flavours that I found to be fairly unique. There's room for improvement, sure, but isn't there always? Worth a try if you're in town, and also worth bringing back via their next IPA mixed pack.