Arts & Entertainment
Mast Landing Brewing Company

 

Can from Vinyl Beer on the UES NYC. Hard to read the date on the can but might be from August or Sept so not at its prime. Pours a hazy light golden orange with a rocky white head that lingers, smell is sweet candied malts, cotton candy, hints of candied orange peel and dates, taste is sweet candied malts up front, transitions to sweet overripe orange flesh and finishes with mild grapefruit pith and pine, feel is medium bodied and soft. A malt forward IPA with a decent citrus/pine bitterness, mild SNB Celebration vibes but not sure that is the intention, I think this one is showing it’s age in the can so will need to revisit with a fresh one some day.

A- Tallboy pours from the can into a tulip glass with a fairly cloudy/hazy pale golden body. A one finger layer of foam tops the beer with a thick consistency and good retention. Sheets of lacing right away turning into large webs after sipping.

S- Fresh and juicy hops emanate out of the glass with nice strength as ripe stone fruits and some tropical notes come to mind first. Papaya, melon, orange juice, slight creamsicle, mango and peach notes with floral, herbal, citrus and berry hints.

T- Takes a turn from the juicy focus, which takes a back set to bitter herbal, berry/strawberry, strong floral and orange citrus notes. The melon and mango in the backdrop with some oat/whole grain, bready and spicy hints. Moderately sweet throughout but the herbal/berry bitterness balances that out.

MF- Soft and puffy with a medium thickness. Silky smooth. Bubbles land on the palate at a high level and the finish is bitter.

Juicy nectar in the aroma with bitter floral, berry and fruity hops on the taste buds. A tad more bitter than it might need to be but no astringency/burn and brewed clean.

a: silky looking hazy orange color. a hint of dark gold and copper. real nice 2 finger off-white head that leave excellent lacing. very nice appearance here

s: hmmm, the aroma is interesting. dragonfruit, peach, sweet mango, and lots of strawberries. sweet caramel, and something almost like butterscotch..maybe diactyl. we then have a touch of pine and pineapple. dry sesame crackers in the background

t: a mixture of orange and grapefruit juice up front. a hint of pineapple and passionfruit. some nice floral notes in here which add some nice notes into the mix. big crackery presence in the taste as well. some guava and orange juice at the end

m: superrrrr fluffy medium mouthfeel. moderate carbonation

o: appearance and flavor are on point. the flavor isn't too complex, but it's a nice punch of citrus and well harmonized. the aroma, however, is a bit off. it's a bit buttery. luckily, it is not reflected in the flavor

A good, mild mannered IPA, this is still soft, without the cutting edge of the West Coast style IPAs with hops added to the boil. But neither is it a sop to the hazy IPA trend. Instead, it feels like and quaffable, like a session IPA but with more strength and muscle. I am a little surprised to see that it is still a New England IPA, but I can definitely get a feel that this is less conformist to the style than others.

 

Can. Been on a Mast Landing kick. They've been more available in cans around me and I have found their beers to be consistently solid. This is another on-brand New England IPA. Definitely looks the part. Turbid, but still glowing. Doesn't look like creamer with orange dye in it. On the haze scale, it's an 8. A pretty beer. Standard, bright citrus-forward, fruit smoothie aroma. Flavor is also bright, juicy, citrusy, a bit creamy. If you enjoy the style - which most nerdy beer drinkers still do, I think - this wouldn't disappoint. Like it was brewed in a hazy IPA factory. Cookie-cutter but scratches an itch.

Canned 6.4,opened 6.24

“Batch #2”

Can poured into a teku , one finger creamy white foam cap , good retention, settles to a solid ring with some lacings over a hazy orange liquid

Aroma is tropical, floral and citrus

Taste is tropical , floral, orange citrus

Low sudsing , semi dry finish

Good beer

A: Pours a hazy yellow color with 2 fingers of head that fades down to a decent cap that leaves good lacing

S: A mix of citrus and tropical fruit up front along with some lighter floral notes

T: Follows the nose. Starts off with the citrus and tropical fruit and then picks up some floral notes and bready malt. Light bitterness. Finishes with lingering citrus

M: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation

O: A solid NE IPA that is very easy to drink. On the lighter side flavor-wise, but still has plenty going on. Worth a drink

 

There have been an absolute ton of new MLBC releases recently, and, though I have not had the "companion" (sister?) beer to this one, Sports & Leisure, I would consider myself pretty up-to-date on their current repertoire. Perpetual Rewind is simply the best tropical fruit IPA I've ever had, A Beer Named Duck was a very fun hazy pale/extra pale ale, and Jonah is a top-tier DIPA with no particular "NEIPA" attachment (a good thing in the currently-saturated market for hazy DIPAs). Therefore, I was keen to throw the money at a four-pack of this one hoping for a good "juicy" IPA that strikes a balance between interesting and drinkable.

The pour here is standard but quite nice at the end of the day. A hazy medium golden color with orange overtones to it when held to light. Dense, creamy, and very retentive head with good stability and surface coverage. I love the superbly-tiered lacing and excellent legs here as well. No real complaints.

This beer is brewed with Amarillo, Azacca, Chinook, Citra, and Falconer's Flight hops, which is quite a "West Coast" focused ensemble with a bit of the tropical "modern" leaning from the Azacca/Citra combo. I am initially pretty shocked by the nose, which seems to focus on piney and spicy elements with an almost intense dedication to spruce (probably Chinook/Falconer's playing well together), but there's certainly a little bit of passion fruit and pineapple in here if I dig a bit deeper than the surface. A touch of herbs and pungent citrus rind (grapefruit/pomelo, mainly) with some light undertones of mango. Very excited to give this a drink to see how it comes across on the palate.

First sip is fruitier than I expected from the nose, with a lot of flavors ranging from pomelo to tangerine to mango with a little bit of chalky yeast, wheat malt, and resinous pungency in the finish. Definitely not a bitter-focused beer, though it does have a slightly firm bitterness that nevertheless quickly fades out as more mango takes over along with a bit of pineapple. Feel is a little heavier bodied than most 6ish% IPAs, but it's not really dense or anything. A fun sessionable IPA with a bit more complexity than initially meets the eye. I was happy with the flavors on order and impressed by how the hops played well together. Would recommend.