The Voyager
The Depot Craft Brewery Distillery

was one of many beers that II picked up last summer at the Total Wine in Reno, Nevada. Never had anything from the The Depot before and this was a nice first impression from them as it was nicely crafted and light in heft, which allowed me to enjoy a few of these while I was on the road!

Quite an inviting, copper hue to this as a nice amount of light was let through the liquid. The head that topped it off was full and settled evenly, but there was very little lacing left behind with just a few hints of suds near the middle of my pint glass. Honey sweetness, spicy hops, and citrus peel were in the mellow nose as the taste packed a bit more of a punch. Deep pine, lemon juice, citrus rind, and caramel emerged on the palate once this warmed up as this was nicely slick and went down easily - even with the earthy, hop bitterness that became more pronounced as I worked my way through this.

While not a session IPA, the low level of alcohol and minor presence of carbonation allowed the flavors to stand out more as the finish was sticky and cloying enough to leave me wanting more. Nice balance of the three hops here, as all that was missing was a canning date. I'll be on the lookout for these guys the next time I'm in the Silver State!

sturdy ipa that still hits as modern rather than old school. despite showcasing what must be a northwestern hop profile and showing a little color too. i like the lower abv right away, it has big flavor but lends itself to drinking several at this strength, doesnt feel like any kind of sacrifice to be a session type, well done there. its light amber colored, holding over a half inch of off white head, and has good clarity, fills the glass well. the nose is lightly spicy on the hop side, but not apparently real bitter, subtle orange peel bite with fresh pine, and a graham cracker sort of malt note that hits a little lighter than it looks here, drier but still toasted and layered. the flavor is fresh, the hops start earlier, mid palate bitterness sets in but it stays held back a bit, not aggressive at all, the balance is good. a little weird in the ferment to me, off from clean with a little zizzle to it, not quite astringent, and really only coming in when this warms up a little, keeps it from being truly crisp and bright to me. a kilned grain warmth and depth to this, lightly nutty, but the body stays easy, and the carbonation is good. citrus to close, a little oily character but not pushing into the dank realm or anything, i like the maltiness keeping it dynamic. good ipa, approachable and repeatable. this place was a lot of fun!

Good stuff. A good new version of a West Coast IPA.

 

 

 

Had this on 2014-06-22 at the brewery in Reno, NV on tap.

Aroma is dank hop floral. Taste is bread, light caramel, citrus and tropical fruit. Moderate bitter finish.

 

This reminded me of an extremely well done, unfiltered home brew. The "unrefined rawness" (I'm a nerd, I know) is what really makes this beer special and unique.

The WOW factor comes into play with how much bright - raw hop explosion of flavor is packed into such a low ABV IPA. Straight up juicy tangerines, some mango and grapefruit but more similar to the rind of each. Extremely pungent bright citrus showcased very well here. That's a understatement. 5.6% ABV IPAs are not supposed to smell and taste this good and pungent. Well done. This Hop Snob Is impressed.

Nice earthy bitterness and a dry finish. Man, you can put more than a couple of these back with ease. A very nice surprise from a new up and coming establishment.