DDH 9th Anniversary DIPA
Southern Grist Brewing Co.

 

 

 

 

 

Holy sh!t with the Peacharine on this one!! Like liquid candy peach rings! Just explosive on the nose and tongue but lots of other things going on, too, to make this nuanced and delicious. I like a little extra sweetness on my IIPAs and this one delivers, but it’s reasonably balanced by some pithy bitterness and weedy greens. Truly unique beer that wowed the senses. Love it.

Canned 4/24/25, into a wide wine glass. This is a WEEK OLD and will be reviewed accordingly, but I will attempt to save a can for a later review once it's had some time to sit.

Pours an unctuous orange, completely opaque, with lovely white foam and tons of lacing. Aroma is nectarine and mango, super juicy, slightly creamy, a little sweet. Very pungent. Flavor sort of follows the nose. There's a ton of stone fruit and mango but it's really not that sweet. There's also ample lime zest and grassiness as well, and a decent kick of bitterness on top. The oats come through as a creamy, graham cracker-like sweetness on the back end, making this whole thing taste like a grown-up orange creamsicle. Body is medium-high, it's thick and dense, very complex and flavorful, but no alcohol presence or harsh flavors. The finish is sticky and bittersweet, not clean at all, and the lime zest bitterness lingers alongside that oat sweetness.

Overall, not what I expected from this beer. Usually Southern Grist excels at these citrus-forward juice bombs, similar to Other Half and Burial, but I've been really enjoying their NEIPAs that trend less sweet. It feels as though the brewery is still aiming for that same fruit character but not nearly as sweet, and letting their true dessert beers carry that. The past few IPAs I've gotten from them have been either dry or pretty heavily bittersweet, and this one is no exception. It's really beautiful in how juicy and grassy it is while still having a punch. 8% ABV completely unnoticed out of a little spice on the back end.

I think Southern Grist's reputation as a dessert beer and orange juice factory is undeserved. This feels like a nuanced, cutting edge interpretation of an oft-maligned and overhyped style.