Short-Lived - Alvarado Street
MadeWest Brewing Company

Type: 16-oz. can
Reviewed as: New England IPA
Glass: Pure Project 14-oz. snifter elemental (water) glass
Price: $10.99 for a 4-pack
From: Trader Joe’s in College Area (San Diego), Calif.
Purchased: Aug. 15, 2022
Consumed: Aug. 16, 2022
Misc.: Collaboration with Alvarado Street; Canned on Aug. 5, 2022

Grabbed a few things for work at Trader Joe’s and came away with this Alvarado Street collab. MadeWest’s website called this “Hazy IPA with Phantasm & hopped with Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe, Nelson and Riwaka. We gave this beer the Alvarado Street Thiol Turbo Boost™ (TTB) treatment using Phantasm (freeze dried Sauvignon Blanc grape skins from New Zealand) in combination with a bioengineered yeast strain, resulting in an explosion of Thiol compounds for the juiciest hop flavors imaginable. This beer has a vibrant tropical fruit character of passionfruit, mango and guava.”

Poured a light golden hazy color with 4-to-5 fingers of rocky white head. Could see just a few bubble streams coming up along the sides of the glass. Almost perfect uneven foamy lacing. Almost perfect foamy retention. (Sight - 4.75)

Smelled just a really nice blend of the mentioned hops. Citra and Mosaic up front with Simcoe and Nelson/Riwaka right behind, just like the description. Specifically got passion fruit, papaya, pineapple, grapefruit, mango, guava, orange, apricot, peach, floral, berry, citrus zest and just a touch of black pepper. Had me really wanting to try it. Just as good from the can with some hop burn coming in the nose. (Smell - 4.25)

Tasted almost as good as the nose. So smooth for (looks at the label) 7 pct. ABV. In order got Citra, grapefruit, passion fruit, papaya, Simcoe, pineapple, mango, guava, Mosaic, orange, apricot, peach, Nelson, floral, berry, citrus rind, lemon and some lingering notes of black pepper. (Taste - 4.25)

Medium body. Creamy texture. Average carbonation. Long, citrusy finish. So good going down. (Feel - 5.00)

This was a banger. Will be buying much more of this, especially for that price point of $2.75 for a 16-oz. beer. (Overall - 4.50)

4.41 | 98 | A

pours VERY opaque gold/orange with 1 finger white head in a tall tulip glass. It looks good initially, but the head is not long lasting, settling down to a thin film, and there is only a token amount of lacing, if any. Taste and smell are a complex combination, with some grapefruit rind and papaya (?) somewhat dominant. Heavy body, mild to moderate carbonation. Overall, pretty nice, but nothing I would search out in view of the multitude of other Hazy IPAs that have made a better impression on me, unless I was really looking for something on the heavy side of the Hazy IPAs. I wish I could give an overall score between 3.75 and 4