Stay Home Wally
Wren House Brewing Co.

 

Best before 5/28/20

Pours a completely turbid dark golden body sporting a nuclear glow and a thick multiple fingers of creamy white head; good retention yields a finger of frothy cap/collar along with a generous spatter of chunky, webby lacing ringing around the glass.

Aroma bursts with a bright, fresh amalgam of ruby red grapefruit, dollops of weedy cream, mushy banana, blueberry, and raspberry, with notes of cotton candy and mango lassi coursing beneath; an underlying citric dank is pronounced, especially toward the back end, alongside a softer tone of orange sorbet; fresh tangerine zest brings the bouquet to an intense, pithy close.

Taste opens surprisingly tamely with tones of bubblegum, ruby red grapefruit, and tropical esters before transitioning to pineapple pith and an onslaught of blueberry, papaya, guava, and touches of peach along the mid-palate; mango smoothie meets hints of alcohol on the back end for a hefty tropical finish.

Mouthfeel brings a body in the lighter side of medium with a spritzy moderate-low carbonation fluffing up sporadically along the palate; a bright, juicy texture with a pronounced roundedness progresses into the back end of the palate, easing into a finish doing well to diffuse an alcohol presence with a subdued bitterness.

While the intensity and booziness expected of a TIPA are undoubtedly present, this beer in particular touches on a certain refinement embracing the most untamed aspects of a NEIPA at this ABV; unabashedly fruity, with waves of flavor and texture, and decidedly on the sweeter side without becoming entirely cloying; this is bravado in IPA form, and I have to respect it.