West Coast Citra IPA
R. Shea Brewing - Merriman Valley

Poured from the can into a Spiegelau IPA glass.

Pale amber with hints of orange and fairly decent clarity in the body color. Off white, almost khaki with light tinges of yellow color in the head. Classic three finger and bold soapy bubbles with lots of cling and ring lacing. Large staying power and big retention as well.

Aroma is nice if a little odd. Faint touches of somewhat grapefruit, but there's a gummy caramel quality hiding behind this also. Nice hinting pine like bitterness also on the nose.

Palate is fairly solid. Orange and light touches of grapefruit flavor, but more of a juice orange with an almost tea like mellow bitterness. Soft bodied with an almost cushy mouthfeel. Finish is a little bit understated, kind of numbing, but surprisingly non existent aftertaste. Mid palate seems to be where the heart of the brew is locked in, with an understated classic fruit note of hop.

Decent IPA, but I wonder if there's something missing, or perhaps more tinkering with this style than as needed to be. Either way it's a solid drinking experience.

 

Poured out of a 16 oz can into one of my pint glasses, this beer pours a mainly clear, just slightly cloudy/hazy light to medium golden color with a nice, big, fluffy white head that's about an inch thick when first poured. head settles eventually to a thick surface coating film layer of foam with a nice thick ring lining the inside of the glass at the beer's surface and excellent lacing. Aromas of bready malts and fruits such as tangerine, pineapple, melon, apricot, mango, and peach followed by a bit of peppercorn and earthy, citrus, slightly piney, herbal, floral, and grassy hop notes. A lot going on here aromas wise, and the flavors follow suit. Some bready, slightly zesty malts upfront that gives way to the aforementioned fruits of mango. tangerine, melon, apricot, peach and pineapple that is followed by all the aforementioned hops flavors. Grassy, herbal, slightly piney, slightly citrusy, and slightly earthy. And of course the peppercorn spice notes round it all out. A good and very well integrated, fairly intricate flavor profile. Has a crisp, smooth, so slightly prickly, medium to full bodied mouthfeel and a slightly dry finish and aftertaste. A very good beer here.

Eric

I got a 4pck of cans of this beer from my local beer store just around the corner. It poured a hazy orangish with white head that is leaving some lace. The scent bitter citrus notes with subtle pine highlights. The taste was nicely balanced and easy to drink with bitter citrus presence. The mouthfeel was lighter in body with good carbonation. Overall it is a great beer.

I struggled with this one. Based on the name I was expecting a West coast IPA. It's far from that. It's more similar to a neipa. Nothing wrong with that just not what I was expecting. It's hazy with some hint of pineapple. Low bitterness on the back end and a pretty tame aroma.

 

16 ounce can into tulip glass, canned on 6/24/2020. Pours very hazy deep golden/amber/light orange color with a 1-2 finger dense and fluffy off white head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Thick foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas and flavors of big tangerine, red grapefruit, lemon, peach, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, mango, melon, gooseberry, citrus peel/rind, wood, peppercorn, pine, wheat, white bread dough, biscuit, light toast, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of tangerine, red grapefruit, lemon, peach, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, mango, melon, gooseberry, citrus peel/rind, wood, peppercorn, pine, wheat, white bread dough, biscuit, light toast, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and bready malt notes; with a great malt/bitterness balance and no lingering hop astringency after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready/sticky, and fairly resinous/rindy balanced mouthfeel that is great. Minimal warming alcohol for 6% or lingering hop burn after the finish. Overall this is an awesome American IPA. All around awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and bready malt flavors; very smooth and easy to drink with the modestly bitter/resinous/drying finish; not overly aggressive. Very juicy, vibrant, and fairly dank/earthy hops; with a nice sized wheat/malt backbone. Mild residual sweetness with lingering resin dryness. A really enjoyable offering, and impressive style example. First one I've had from them, looking forward to others.

 

 

Got a big frothy head and nice hazy orange color... lovely nose and plenty tasty ... I'm always excited to try a new brewer and these folks did not disappoint ... Thumbs up

 

Look: Hazy yellow color, two finger head with good retention. Minimal lacing. A lot of fast rising bubbles.
Smell: Aroma of tangerine and nectarine. I don’t get a lot of aroma until the beer is in my mouth. That might be a personal deficiency.
Taste: Lots of malty sweetness for a west coast IPA. Some bitterness across the tongue
Flavor: Juicy tangerine, nectarine, apricot, mango and soft red grapefruit without bitterness. Some pine whirling around. Wonderful tropical goodness.
Feel: Round smooth mouthfeel. Less carbonation than I thought given the amount of visible bubbles. But it still feels very well balanced. Dry fruity finish.
Overall: I think the taste of this beer is amazing but one caveat, the one I am drinking was canned less than a week ago. I think this beer benefits greatly from freshness. The hop flavor is wonderful. I’m so glad R Shea started putting their beers in cans. They were only available on premises for a long time. I hope this beer travels well but from the other ratings it does not look like other reviewers are drinking the same beer that is in front of me. I will drink this again. The first time I drank this it was in a flight. You really need to spend some quality time with as fresh a sample as you can get.

I recently visited R'Shea Brewery in Akron, Ohio, to try some of their brews. I am glad I did. They had some good stuff including this West Coast Citra IPA.

Look: hazy golden hue with an inch thick bubbly head

Aroma: grapefruit and pine resin

Flavor: It has a good malty backbone with grapefruity mango flavor and a pine resin after taste, very nice.

Feel: light to medium body

 

 

Typical IPA appearance. nice big juicy flavor but kind of dull for a west coast IPA. Wonderful juicy mouthfeel. Mild to moderate hop bitterness. This beer is decent I just expected it to be a lot bigger with the west coast tag.

 

Pours a hazy orange color with soapy white head and some lace.

Smells of citra hops dropping some grapefruit and lemon aromas.

The flavor is strongly citrusy; lemon, grapefruit, and pine all chime in. Malt base is light on the palate and lets the hops shine. It has average bitterness for an IPA, this one is almost juicy but not quite. Citra hops are doing their thing imparting this beer with lots of citrus.

Light bodied, fresh tasting citra IPA with ample carbonation on it. Straightforward, easy drinking for the style and pretty decent overall.