Rakau Westeez
Alvarado Street Brewery

From the can this pours a clear golden tan. Aroma is reminiscent of stone fruits—peach?—added to a tropical blend. The sip follows, lightly and delicately, with generous carbonation and a mild bitterness.

Can poured into an Alvarado Street Brewery Willi Beecher glass

A: Pours golden amber with a frothy cream white head that settles to a firm layer and leaves a little nice lacing.

S: A mix of exotic, tropical, and orchard fruit, zesty citrus, earthy spice, resinous pine, and biscuity bready malt.

T: Zesty citrus, grapefruit, lime, lemon, and tangerine, resinous pine, tropical, exotic, and stone fruit, white grape, pineapple, apricot, gooseberry, peach, mango, passion fruit, and a touch of pear, floral notes, a bit green and grassy, subtle spice, biscuity bready malt, and just a touch of sweetness on a fairly dry finish.

M: Medium body, moderate carbonation, crisp and slightly oily, in a good way.

O: I was actually hesitant to grab this can because I'm not normally the biggest fan of how Rakau hops can come through. Glad I did. There's still some elements that come through, especially in the nose, that I'm not the fondest of, but it's still a very enjoyable Westy. So far the Peacharine variant is my favorite in the series, but this is a competitive second.

this is wonderful, a great showcase of rakau hops, and new zealand hops at their best really, and the base beer is perfect for it, new school, super light, but not neutral or unbalanced in an effort toward ease, i think its really dialed, ive had nowhere near enough beer from alvarado street! the can art is fire, the pour is pretty, golden sunny colored, pretty light without being totally yellow or totally clear, good carbonation gives rise to a tall white airy head with great retention. the nose on this is uniquely fruity, floral white wine, white peach, and bellini maybe, lemongrass and verbena, fresh cut turf and chamomile, light grain sweetness, all very fresh, seems especially low bitterness for a west coast type, clean clean clean. the flavor follows, great hop palate, key lime, stone fruit, and green papaya, white wine again, and very modest bitter brightness on the swallow, some crackery malt in support, just a little bit of body with it, quickening minerality, almost a colder fermented speed to this, clean on the swallow and new again on every sip. very well executed, like this is technically wonderful, and the southern hemisphere hops are in all their glory. a beer i could drink almost endlessly, and i am again impressed by these guys. the high carbonation is perfect for it, and its like one last can of summer here before fall truly hits, stellar modern ipa here!