Intrinsic
Temescal Brewing

Poured from a can into a pint glass. Pours orange yellow with a nice white head. Smells of floral and citrus hops. Tastes of citrus and earthy hops. Beer is light bodied and easy drinking, good carbonation. Overall, a very good beer.

Picked this up recently at a Whole Foods in San Francisco, as I never had anything from Temescal before. Loved the label art and the fact this was brewed for San Francisco beer week, although I wish the aromatics were as intense as indicated on the can. No, this wasn't bad and yes, this flew out of my glass but it could have been a bit more memorable had it had a few enhancements!

This had a hazy, brassy hue to it that was offset with enough foam. That didn't translate to any lacing since only a few spots near the bottom of my pint glass stuck around as I sipped this. Subtly tropical with deep grapefruit, wet pine forest, and heavily dank hops, the aroma was indicative of the taste that this had, as this was heavy in taste for being light on the palate. The body could have been more balanced as the malt was hard to detect as this needed more heft to reach it's full potential.

A bit more carbonation would have been appreciated and some waxiness in the mouthfeel would have made this a true West Coast IPA. Dated 1/31 with "NO JERKS" written above it, this wasn't bad but with so much behind this, I expected more with the end result. Enjoy it once for the label and the potential that this had, but fell short of fulfilling.

Murky yellow body with two fingers of fluffy white head and mild lacing. Nose pushes grapefruit, melon, and general citrus with piney hops in a powerful way. Taste is watery in comparison, grapefruit still large, hops are gentler than expected on the palate, dankness lingers. Feel is thinner though not super light, hops anchor but malt backbone is weak, undercutting the bitterness potential.

 

Tried in the SF Beer Week pack from Half Time. Fairly pale color. Not a big head. Flavor to me has a big hit of citrus, undercurrent of a bit of piney/dank hops, but it's definitely a supporting role to the citrus. Body is pretty light, much lighter than you might expect for an IPA, and so it drinks easy. I dig it.