It Takes Two - Citra x Centennial
Interboro Spirits and Ales

 

A-Pours a hazy straw color with a nice head and lacing
A-Aroma has tropical and citrus hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a nice tropical and citrus flavor
M-A medium bodied well carbonated beer
O-A good DIPA

This one pours a fairly hazy straw yellow color, with a small head, and lots of lacing.

This one smells like bold and punchy citrus, grassy and piney hops, spice, flowers, and mango.

This is a super solid hop duo - Citra obviously provides big hazy-friendly juicy citrus flavors, and the Centennial provides some more old school bitterness and grapefruit flavors. There's no malt character, and the flavor is extremely crisp and well put together.

This is very drinkable, with a dry finish, and a very smooth mouthfeel.

I like this one a lot - it's a nice mashup of IPA tones for me.

 

 

 

 

This beer really grows on me with warming.

Cloudy golden color with a 4F head.

Mild citrus aroma.

Excellent MF and taste: dry hoppy MF, and a distinctive citrus flavor.

Check It Out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I guess this is the second "It Takes Two" beer by Interboro, but it's the first I've seen in the MA market. Interesting, because I've had all of the "You're All I Need"s, which are the single-hopped DIPAs. I actually (secretly, don't tell anyone, okay?) enjoy dual-hopped IPAs and DIPAs more than single-hopped ones for a few reasons. First of all, everyone knows single-hopped beers are played out... c'mon now. Then again, Interboro has done a bang-up job with theirs, so perhaps I shouldn't bring them hammer down on them, but... whatever. And, for another reason... hops just aren't interesting on their own. Sure, homebrewers can learn a lot about hop interactions by brewing a few small batch single hop beers, but their commercial viability was always weird to me. Dual-hop beers necessitate brewing prowess and understanding of interactions between our lupulin friends. They're just inherently cooler. Okay, maybe that's just me. Is this thing on? Let's get to the review proper, eh?

Pours a completely-opaque medium-orange color with golden highlights when held up to light. The head is surprisingly dense and long-lasting with great retention and legs, but only decent lacing. Seems drippy and slightly less intriguing than some other DIPAs I've had lately. That said, this is still nice, and I dig the appearance in general. I tend to be pretty forgiving with hazy IPAs and DIPAs recently, but the structure on this one is solid overall regardless of my bias.

Alright, let's get into the hops. We talked in the first paragraph about how I like the idea of "dual-hopped IPAs." Port Brewing did a bunch of these a few years ago with their Hop Freshener series, and I like where Interboro is taking the idea. This is obviously "NEIPA" in approach, but the hops pop big time as they should. We all know where Citra hops stand in the current oeuvre of brewing, but Centennial may have gotten lost a little bit along the way. If we access our old memories of hops, we can recall that Centennial is part of the "CTZ" line of West Coast "traditional" hops used for their versatility. Floral and citrusy, it works well with Citra in this beer... the latter provides some light lychee, mango and tropical papaya notes which balance the dankness and floral elements of Centennial. Good stuff.

On the tongue, this is strongly bitter and sharp with a hefty floral component that melds with deep citrusy goodness in the mid-palate. The finish is maltier than expected, then bitter and resinous with a chalky, yeast-driven aspect. Flavors of tangerine, orange rind and grapefruit crowd out almost everything else, though light touches of earthiness and grassiness do appear here and there upon some sips. Feel is mouth-coating and slick with a nice density. Mild carbonation with a heavier-bodied complexion than I expected. Good stuff. Considering my proclivity for enjoying the concept of dual-hopped IPAs, this ironically isn't as good as any of the single-hop beers I've had from Interboro. Interesting.