Space Camper Cosmic IPA | Boulevard Brewing Co.

3.98/5  rDev +4.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Clear yellow brew with plenty of foam in the Hopleaf snifter. Clean fruity aroma. I have rye on my mind but this is a little spicy. The ripe honeydew melon is quite distinct along with a touch of citrus. Hops are listed as Ekuanot, El Dorado, and Galaxy. If you go to the Boulevard website you can play the related game, "Intergalactic Planetary Attack."

Overall this is a very drinkable and flavorful IPA in the lighter style. Enough bitterness for the style and well-balanced with the malt and aromatics. From the 12 oz can purchased in the far Northwest.

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3.64/5  rDev -4.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

On tap at JL Beers, attractive in the glass, moderately cloudy, peachy color, pretty good fluffy white head, decent retention. Taste and feel...good but not great, i’d say. Bitterness is muted on the front, but a moderate amount sneaks in. Fruit and juiciness is kind of similar, contrary to the description...there’s some grapefruit and passion fruit, though there’s little sweetness and it is a little thin feeling. Ehh, I was expecting more, but it isn’t bad...and it is kind of refreshing.

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3.9/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

12 ounce can into tulip glass, canned on 3/23/2019. Pours fairly hazy/cloudy medium golden yellow color with a 1 finger fairly dense and fluffy off white head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big tangerine, red grapefruit, lemon, lime, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, honeydew, watermelon, red apple, berries, citrus peel/zest, wood, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, white bread dough, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/tropical/fairly earthy hops and moderate pale/wheat malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big tangerine, red grapefruit, lemon, lime, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, honeydew, watermelon, red apple, berries, citrus peel/zest, wood, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, white bread dough, 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, lime, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, honeydew, watermelon, red apple, berries, citrus peel/rind, wood, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, white bread dough, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/fairly earthy hops and moderate pale/wheat malt flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance, and no lingering hop astringency after the finish. Fairly crisp/clean finishing. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Medium carbonation and light-medium body; with a very smooth, moderately bready/grainy/sticky, and lightly resinous/rindy balanced mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol for 5.9%. Overall this is a delicious IPA. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/fairly earthy hops and moderate pale/wheat malt flavors; very smooth, refreshing, and fairly crisp/clean to drink with the mellowly bitter/drying finish; not aggressive. Great Ekuanot, El Dorado, Galaxy profile. Very juicy, vibrant, and fairly dank/earthy hops; with a nice clean pale/wheat malt backbone. Minimal residual sweetness with crisp dryness. A very enjoyable offering, and well made style example as expected.

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3.84/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 ounce can, very faint print on the bottom gives a canning date and best before dating...this one was canned 03/12/19 and is best consumed before 03 AUG 2019.

Pours out with a light to medium haze. and leaves just a smattering of lace.

Light citrus with oranges on the sniff.

Moderate and dull oranges notes...pretty tame, sort of a newbie friendly NEIPA, a bit juicy but nothing overly exciting or particularly flavorful. Drinkable and enjoyable...decent sessioner

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3.77/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

12 oz can into stemless wine glass. No date that I can find.
Look is nice hazy golden yellow. Smell is light tropical citrus. Taste follows nose. Feel is fairly light. Overall a very drinkable IPA. Not big juice bomb but very drinkable.

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3.66/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.5

12oz can, no apparent freshness date. Cloudy golden-yellow body with yeast particulates suspended within; creamy white head. Tropical and juicy hop aroma: passion fruit and lemon-lime citrus but not that bold. Flavors are more predominant with notes of passion fruit, lemon-lime, grapefruit, and piney mango; malt presence is mild. Fuller body, ample carbonation, finish is quite balanced with modest bitterness allowing the juicy hop flavors to ride out the finish. Easy drinking new-school IPA with some good hop flavors.

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3.77/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

12 oz. can:

Pours hazy yellow. A white foamy head becomes a thin cover and leaves some trailing lace.

The smell is tropical and citric.

The taste is tropical and citric with restrained bitterness.

It is a little juicy, a bit creamy, a little thin (but holds together).

A pleasant IPA that is on the border of traditional American IPA and New England style IPA.

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3.92/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

12oz can into IPA Glass
canned on 3/12/19
Hazy orange with some light going through thin white head
Sweet malt, citrus grapefruit, pine
crisp dough, candied grapefruit, mango, subtle piney finish
medium bodied, above average carbonation
overall very balanced and drinkable

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3.5/5  rDev -7.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

From the bottom of the can: "L031219 14:16 09AUG2019 F"

Appearance: The body is very hazy with a light gold color. It has a short fluffy white head with good retention.

Aroma: There is a nice aroma of grapefruit and a bit of mango. There is a touch of alcohol on the nose.

Taste: There is a pleasant but light flavor of grain and grapefruit.

Mouthfeel: The body is nice and light with a zippy burst of carbonation. It has a pretty dry finish. Bitterness feels low.

Overall: The beer isn't packed with aroma or flavor but it is pleasant. I would drink it again and I would recommend it. It would be a good beer for the beach, a picnic, or a camping trip.

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4.22/5  rDev +11.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25

Pours kind of an unfiltered gold, with quickly disapating white head

Nose is great....starts with white peach, white grape juice

Taste is slightly different flavor profile. More tangerine, grapefruit. Lingering lemon finish

Moderate carbonation, a little watery. This is a hop delivery vehicle that could benefit from a bit more malt foundation.

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3.91/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75

Gold with thin head. Peach, pineapple, mango, grapefruit on the nose. The flavor is more resin with grassiness, pine and citrus. Dry and certainly low on bitterness for an IPA. Thin mouthfeel.

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3.48/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

On tap in my neighborhood

Gold, slight haze, one fingers head, spotty lacing, low carbonation
Citrus and grassy scents
Lemon, pale malt, grapefruit pith, blood orange
Bracing bitter feel, watery, dry finish
Nothing off, just doesn't stand out.

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3.79/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Exp on 5 July 19 (no canning date).
L: Lightly clouded, small white head.. weak lacing.
S: Citrus..malty. Not very bright at all.
T: Flat citrus. Very bland. Malts hiding well in the background.
F: Highly carbonated, not very bitter. It's definitely not WC .. lingering. Not juicy for sure.
O: Not a beer I'll revisit. I suspect some of the hops have dropped, but the can says it's still GTG.

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3.48/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured into a pint glass. A fairly hazy yellow-golden color but not as hazy as most NEIPAs. A normal pour produced a small white head. The aroma was mainly tropical with papaya, mango, and pineapple. The taste followed initially but then faded quickly into, well, a void. Seriously the flavors seemed to disappear, leaving a bitter white bread backbone. Really disappointing. The BB date was July 5 2019 so maybe this is two months old - hard to know.

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3.42/5  rDev -10%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3

12 oz can best by July 15th poured into boiler snifter.

Space Camper pours a hazy bright yellow color with a puffy head of 1 finger, leaving hilly lace and receding to a fingernail.

Lemon and grapefruit aromas can be sampled with stiff pale malt and a faint whisper of rice krispy bar.

A harsh lemony bitterness starts this off and it's unmistakably Columbus/Zeus with some signature dank and lasting bitterness. The flavor hops could be Azacca, Ekuanot, El Dorado, and Centennial (any or all the above), but since I cannot find them on the can I am merely guessing. Strong lemon, grapefruit, and slight orange peel bitterness with hints of soapiness likely from Ekuanot here and there. Stiff bitterness throughout the profile.

Feel is crisp and carbonated, not acidic, not juicy, not new-England-y at all.

Overall, if the aim of this beer (and I'm assuming so since it's the trend) is to be a hazy/juicy/New England IPA, this one isn't a really a good style example at all. It tastes and smells exactly like my various experimental home brew IPAs when I'm not trying to go hazy and just trying hop combos. This is a perfect display of why the New England IPA may be going the way of the dodo bird. Too many people trying to cash in on this "trend" and not doing a good job at it. Rating it much lower as an overall score because beers like this do damage to the craft beer community. This is cannibalistic. This is pop music. Stop releasing mediocre NE IPAs, everybody. I beg you. You're going to burn people out on the style before they've even had a decent example.

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3.49/5  rDev -8.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

Gold to light copper colored with a definite sedimentary haze. There's a fingernail of off white on top. Light lacing. It smells exactly like Fanta orange soda with a hint of lime. I'm tasting more of a vegetal to lime and citrus hop flavor that seems peculiar and unique. The mouth is oddly light and quaffable.

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3.23/5  rDev -15%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.25

CAN ran $6.99 per sixer at a beer store in Austin, TX.

5.9% ABV. "India Pale Ale."

APPEARANCE: Pours a clear yellow-copper body with a white fluffy head.

AROMA: Melon. Floral hop aromatics. Fresh citrus. Pale malt. Lilac. A hint of hop oil.

Aromatic intensity is average.

TASTE & TEXTURE: Wonderfully soft. Smooth. Wet. Refreshing. Medium-bodied. Not astringent, harsh, boozy, or scratchy.

Floral and fruity, emphasizing melon over citrus. Hints of hop oils are barely present. Pale malt/2-row keeps it balanced without lending too much sweetness or weight.

Balanced if a bit wanting in terms of hop pungency - which is akin more to that of a pale ale than an IPA proper.

OVERALL: A drinkable pale ale masquerading as an IPA that's likable but not lovable. Nice work from Boulevard, but not a beer that will dazzle discerning drinkers.

High C+ / ABOVE AVERAGE

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4.06/5  rDev +6.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Picked up as six-pack from my local liquor store since I am always on the lookout for something new to try, especially from Boulevard. Not very hazy, so I'm guessing it's filtered. Overall, a fine IPA.
A little bitter on the finish, though. Not that that's a bad thing - just wasn't expecting it.

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3.73/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

This beer pours a clear gold with a solid head. The aroma is very potent, with guava, passion fruit, vanilla, blueberry, and coconut. The flavor features notes of peach, melon, guava, passion fruit, mango, vanilla, and coconut. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with loose carbonation. Overall this is an odd little duck - wonderfully potent in smell, the flavor is both more reserved and traditional than the aroma, a solid tropical melange, with a slight creamy, vanilla coconut like note.

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3.52/5  rDev -7.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12 oz single can from Life source Natural Grocers in Salem OR
$2.29
Pours a dull slightly hazy yellow, but the head is white and big and frothy.
Aromas of oranges, tangerines and nectarines..nice.
Taste the same but more orange centered,'
Mouth feel is fine.medium body medium carbonation.
A nice spring beer

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4.09/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On tap (Feb 2019) at Brewer's Republic in COS, CO
L - Nothing apparently stands out here; seems a tweener beer between pale and IPA, not much lacing, ok head.
S - More interesting; a little citric and pine whiff on this. Better when you...
T - Now we're talking. for 5.9% this is a great tasting beer that doesn't ruin your night prematurely like some of the 7+% IPAs out there. Could have several and be good to go.
F - Decent, not spectacular carbonation here, but lingers and tickles the palate just enough.
O - one of the better nonIPA IPAs out there - refreshing, light but tasty, not devastating. Really good.

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3.85/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

a nice new one from these guys, i have always liked their hoppy stuff and often miss some of the older retired ones, but this is solid too, decidedly dry hoppy and juicy and modern, but not all cloudy and thick, well refined and cleaned up, and to me very drinkable as a result. with the name being so adventurous and ambitious sounding, i was expecting a bit more of a unique beer, but thats not really the case here at all, and frankly it could have come from anyone that knows what they are doing with hops. i like how golden and light it is, and i like the aroma, to me it smells like mosaic hops, i get that canned pineapple and light citrus thing, but i am not totally sure what hops are in here. oily and slick and west coasty to me too, with some bitterness at the end to keep it in the ipa realm, but not enough to turn anyone off. very mild and drinkable in that respect. i get subtle orange and and a grassy almost noble herbal spice thing later on, all very fresh. minimal on the grain side even though there is a dab of sweetness to it. balanced and clean on the whole. id like to try this in the can, sometimes these things dont translate amazingly well to draft, especially in a bar with a ton of tap handles, but its obvious that this is another well made and drinkable hop forward beer from boulevard. nice to see a new one from them too!

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3.96/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12oz can, tulip, canned 12/18/18.

Luminescent yellow and moderately hazy beer is topped by a white, heady two fingers.

Mustard seed, lychee, pear, and orange blossom. Its sharp and sweet and has a floral essence.

I didn’t know they grew fruit in space, but then again I’ve never been a space camper. Juicy beer tasting of jasmine, pear, and lychee. It’s fruity and floral.

Medium bodied and surprisingly dry in the finish, some bubbles also tickle you as you knock it back.

This is a nice IPA with hazy and juicy characteristics, but not overboard as you see from many breweries with less experience. It is balanced, it is flavorful, and it is good.

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3.76/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Pours a hazy bright yellow with a decent white cap that leaves generous lacing as it recedes. Aroma is a blend of citrus and tropical fruits. Flavor follows the nose with a touch of bitterness in the finish. Feel is light and crisp. Overall a decent IPA but not a stand out.

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3.83/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

12oz can, snifter glass. Cloudy golden copper body, one finger frothy white head, thick lacing, fair retention. Smell is tropical fruit, light grapefruit, caramel, biscuit, grain, a bit grassy. Flavour follows, slightly tart passion fruit, grapefruit, caramel sweetness rounding things out, slight grassy bite to it. Mouthfeel is lighter medium bodied, easy to drink, mild grassy bitterness.

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