West Coast Wizard
Miskatonic Brewing Company

 

 

Foggy golden pour, great head. Pine and fruit aromas. Stone fruit, malty backbone. Medium bodied, nicely carbonated.

 

 

12 oz. can, no apparent canning information. My third beer review from Miskatonic Brewing Company, been a while since I've had a new one from these guys.

Poured to a Camp Crystal Lake stemless tumbler.

A - Froth rushes out of the can as soon as the tab is popped; pours a crisp golden orange body, large finger of frothy white foam of good density. Good color with some small particulate visible. Looks excellent.

S - Aroma is fresh, herbal, floral, hoppy. Notes of cold soft citrus, pine needles, biscuit malt, hints of rye.

T - Big fruity hop character, slight slight alcohol bite, resinous bitterness, with some bready biscuity malt in the finish. Again, notes of rye. Toast, peaches, grapes. Lots of fruit character pulling through.

M - Feel is smooth, crisp, fairly easy-drinking for the modest abv. Tons of dry hop resins clinging to the palate on the finish.

Overall, a nice local IPA option from Miskatonic, tastes very classic in my opinion, harkens back to the old days of IPA lol. I look forward to trying more from these guys.

Miskatonic Brewing Company West Coast Wizard IPA -----4/5.

 

Deep yellow-orange with a healthy head, banded lacing and good carb release
Citrus aromas with a little pine and stone fruit
Good classic flavor but not all that interesting, good sustained bitterness in the finish
Very juicy mouthfeel

Pretty much a down the middle IPA with some interesting aspects but the taste did not keep up with the smell or feel.

 

A tiny bit of hazy sediment going in at the end, otherwise a bright golden beer. Dank resiny aroma, sandalwood and bready malt. Hint of tangerine at first that fades quickly. Resiny bitterness, grapefruit peel, angel food cake. Light bodied and drinkable. Nice WCIPA that is straightforward and true to style.

 

 

Pours mostly clear. Soft, floral aroma. Nice bitterness with perhaps just a tad sweetness. Good balance.

 

 

Update 02/19/21 a significant uptick in quality.

The look is the same as last year.

The aroma has lost the floral note and focuses on pine and grapefruit.

Soapy taste is gone, thankfully, allowing the fruity grapefruit bitterness to shine with the pine.

Mouthfeel is full but still fails to bite like I expect, more like juice than IPA.

Original review with score follows:
12oz can poured into a pint glass has a clear straw color and floats a 1/2in cap of mixed bubbles gradually falling to a large island and edge hugging ring, leaving random spots of artistic lacing. 3.75

Aroma is pine-adjacent, with a slight floral note, and flows into similar flavors adding a soapy impression. 3.5/3.25

Mouthfeel is softer than expected, but drying. 3.

Overall a middle of the road IPA. 3.25

Had 2 beers over the past 2 nights and just get into it. I wish I knew the hop profile, kind of reminds me of centennial and I am not a big fan. West coast is all about the hops but I don't think this beer has enough malt bill to make it complete. Very lemony on the finish. Had to buy a six pack but I will pass some around and see if anybody else likes it.

Perhaps this is a clone beer? It gets poured from a brightly colored can with palm trees and a goofy grizzled kilt wearing wizard / old hippy cruising along on a long board. Pours CLEAR, like a west coast IPA should. The color is blond, and on the lighter side of the SRM's for a true school WCIPA. It's also pretty highly carbonated by the looks of the extremely dense froth that comes from an aggressive pour. Its lacing is fairly I get a mix of pine, and yeast coming through in the aroma. There's kind of a seltzer brightness on the palate. Decent drying sort of bitterness. This beer wants you to have tacos with it. Abide.
Pretty well done.