Sky Lines
Mast Landing Brewing Company

OJ

Interesting can art " If the sun were square" but little else of interest. Can date of 6-29-20 so it's fresh but just because it comes from Maine does not make it a NEIPA. The can calls it a double dry hopped IPA - no abv or other info.
The color and cloudy murk says NEIPA however as does the soft boil hop rate. Tall thick white head forms and sticks in sheets and clumps. Pretty on top and kinda fugly on the bottom.
Aroma is very inviting - flower and fruit garden full of orange blossoms and fresh honey combs. Hints of citrus but not full on juicy and more subtle and interesting.
This tastes like a fresh pale ale from a good little brew pub. Lush, almost medium bodied beer fills the mouth with really nice grain character - light but tasty malt sweetness - honey and toasted barley flavors mix with mid boil hop flavors of leather and greenery, ya sure, maybe a bit of blood orange but it's in balance and highly drink-more-able.
The hop bite is there unlike many " soft serve" cloudy IPA's these days, but more of a pale ale IBU rate.
Wonderful, fresh mix of malt and hop flavors in possibly the best example of this ( very broad) style I have tried to date.

 

 

Had from Canton St June 2020

Mast Landing kicks butt, one great IPA after another- each unique but still definitively ML. This one has a great slightly Windexy flavor (sounds gross but works!)

 

My second new MLBC beer today is also the second of three new IPAs they've released over the past week. Sky Lines is a double dry-hopped IPA clocking in at 6.5% ABV and featuring Amarillo, Motueka, and HBC-692 experimental hops. Sounds fun. Let's jump in.

The pour here is a typical but nice-looking hazy IPA pour with a dingier feel than is usual. Perhaps more hop solids from the DDH? I dunno, something about it isn't as vibrant as some of this brewery's other opaque-leaning NEIPAs. Outside of that, the head is a very impressive two fingers of white foam with excellent retention and extremely-consistent lacing. Looks pretty damn good overall, I have to say.

Nose is a little floral and grapefruit-forward upfront, with a definite helping of that Motueka-driven key lime thing. This hop is just a powerhouse of that particular aspect; it consistently displays a biting yet balanced citrusy tropical element that really intrigues me. Amarillo is doing a lot of work here, though, as well... just a ton of tangelo and subtle wildflower honey with a hit of blood orange. HBC-692 is a varietal I have some experience with in IPAs like this, and it does definitely tend towards resinous, woody, and melon/stone fruit aspects. Here, too, it brings out some complex tannins and a bit of a "creamy" backup, in the vein of a lighter Sabro/Cashmere against the more intense citrusy backdrop of the other hops.

Great flavor profile here with a mixture of strong tangelo, orange rind, and grapefruit elements with a slight herbal and earthy hit, key lime, and juicy guava. Bright and powerful thrust of intense citrus and tropical aspects with a light undertone of florals and even some soft wheat-like malt. Soft and moderated feel bearing low-leaning carbonation and a pillowy finish. Hmm, I'm torn on this one. It's almost something I would love, but it just doesn't drink right. It has a similar issue to Whomper, which I had earlier: it's just way too easy-going; nothing about it challenges my palate. Sure, not every IPA needs to do something unusual, but, on the contrary, I actually think this is an interesting and novel hop combo; it's just that the way it drinks is boring and non-confrontational. It hurts my enjoyment of the beer because it just feels so ineffectual. I want to love this, but I think it is a bit below the standard they've previously set. I do have a four-pack of this one and will definitely enjoy it (and probably share a can or two with friends at the July 4th social-distanced barbecue I'm attending tomorrow), but I think it could certainly use a bit of work here and there.