Chronokinetic
Wayfinder Beer

 

Clean and clear, lager-like in look. Good aroma of fruit and fresh flowers. Pineapple, mango, grapefruit. Well carbonated. Layers of flavor, lots of body. Thr fruit extends way down, with mango, papaya, star fruit and kiwi. Hops are crisp and focused, if that makes sense. Long, lingering taste. We'd love to see this in the regular rotation.

 

Citrusy nose with a bit of juicy sweetness. The palate has some citrus rind, pine, and dankiness. It’s refined, clean, and refreshing.

16oz can

Pours a finger of white head into my Willi glass. A little fizzy, and it fades within a minute or two. Initial lacing looks ok. Body is a pale yellow, crystal clear, with a few bubbles coming up. By the color and the “cold fermented” tag line, I’m wondering if they are going for almost an IPL here? Looks ok so far.

Nose is very lovely, gooseberries hit first, with some softer tropical fruit’s underneath - mango, papaya, and even guava; and they come through big time. This is the advantage of putting these kinds of hops in a beer with a clean malt body, clarity for the senses, what a concept. A touch of northwest bitterness that presents itself as citrus rind, maybe a touch of dankness. Would guess this is a Simcoe base, but it goes much further than that. Lovely.

I’m immediately impressed. The most common problem with juicy IPA’s is that the flavor falls off, this hardly does at all. You get that gooseberry and the tropical flavors, mixed with a surprising, but welcome biscuity malt. A smidge of dankness. Not getting much citrus, which is fine. It starts very hoppy, then the malt hits you, and then it transitions very quickly to a clean, crisp finish. Very hard to sneak that malt in there and still keep it light and refreshing like this. This is super good.

Carbonation is medium-high, and it drinks very effervescent. A little bit of hop bitterness adds to that lively mouthfeel. Sweet for maybe a nano second, but overall dry. Body is on the lighter side, which is perfectly fine here. Can’t really think of anything I’d improve.

Drinkability is immaculate. This drinks light and it’s super tasty.

Appearance turned out poor. Zero lacing, and the head was lackluster as well.

That malt flavor cleared out a little bit towards the end of the glass. While I was impressed with the action it brought, it’s probably for the best it went away, this way it drinks perfectly clean and it’s just a frontal show for these hops. Can’t say enough about the power of showcasing hops in a lightly malted beer. The only thing this is missing from making it perfect is the “wow” factor, hard to do these days when everything has been done, but still. Fantastic brew.

Clear yellow golden body. Crisp pine resin, herbal bite, floral. Medium caramel, very west-coast style in nature. Balanced, with the resinous nature of the beer being the prominent character. Medium bodied, good carbonation, mild herbal bitterness at end.