Mike Weisson
Innocente Brewing Company

500 mL bottle picked up at the brewery in mid-July; served slightly chilled.

Pours a translucent, deep-hued orange-amber, capped off by just over one finger's width of foamy, off-white coloured head. It seeps away steadily over the next three minutes or so, leaving behind a thin collar accompanied by some bubbly, soapy suds on the surface. Nice lacing, too - looks good to me, although 'pale' is not necessarily one of the first descriptors that comes to mind. Quite hoppy on the nose; not too hard to see where the "American" part of this one's name came from - it's fairly piney and resiny, with muted hints of grapefruit citrus. Hints of caramel sweetness and bready, wheaty malts are also significant contributors to the aroma.

Nicely balanced flavour profile, with the wheaty malts allowed to come through much more strongly than they did on the nose. Lightly toasted bread and biscuit flavours start things off, along with some mild caramelized sugar sweetness. Slight nuances of apricot and banana are then summarily overwhelmed with typical American IPA hop notes - mostly an earthy, piney, slightly resiny bitterness that lasts through the finish, but also with slight hints of grapefruit citrus. The aftertaste is jarringly brief - the aforementioned hop flavours evaporate from the palate within a second of swallowing, resulting in a surprisingly clean denouement with just a touch of light fruitiness. Note that the resiny bitterness does seem to build up on the palate over time, which begins to cancel that effect out over time. Medium-bodied, with carbonation levels that register toward the lighter end of the spectrum, weakly prickling the tongue. Somewhat crisp, reasonably refreshing, and easy to knock back.

Final Grade: 3.83, a B+. Unlike Tyson himself, Innocente's Mike Weisson is well-balanced and fairly mild-mannered. This brew possesses an earthy hop punch, though said punch is not necessarily intense (or unique) enough to draw in the crowds. The hops are complemented by a solid backbone of wheaty malts and caramel sweetness - nothing terribly exciting, but it comes together nicely enough. Worth a try; I'd consider picking up more in the future, but it isn't something I'd intentionally seek out.

Good brew, approaching a wheat IPA in flavour and bitterness. Personally, I'd ease up on the bitterness and dry hop it with something with a little more citrus or tropical fruit flavour.