Naked "3 Sum"
Pipe Dream Brewing

 

Pipe Dream Brewing "Naked '3 SUM' IPA"
what seems to be a pint can but isn't labeled as such, and without production codes or freshness dating
$4.00 @ Candia Road Convenience, Manchester, NH

Notes via stream of consciousness: Unless my eyes deceive me this is another case of a beer label that doesn't include a volume measurement which is illegal under federal law - just noting. It's poured a very cloudy orange-ish colored body beneath a short head of off-white foam. It looks like a hefeweizen but without the big fluffy head. The aroma is citrusy and just lightly piney. I'm getting notes of orange/tangerine, grapefruit, apricot, and soft pine. I'm sure it will open up a bit once it warms but it's not that bright as it is. Bigger aroma than you might expect of a standard pale ale? Maybe. OK, moving on... the flavor has a very odd tea-like note, and it's bready and raisiny. It actually reminds me of a piece of raisin bread - very weird. Is it good though? I'm not sure. I might appreciate it in some kind of Belgian beer but it doesn't seem to fit at all in a self described "LIGHT BODIED WEST COAST STYLE IPA". Wow. So, the head retention wasn't that good, it dropped quickly, but the lacing is amazing. I have completely solid sheets of lace surrounding the glass. That's curious. Back to the flavor, I'm finding notes of caramel, raisin, orange, grapefruit, pine, apricot, earth, fig, and yeast. It's really a kind of muddled mess. A solid bitterness backs it and it finishes dry with lingering pine and a remnant of fruit. In the mouth it's light-medium in body as suggested, but the heavy amount of residual yeast and proteins gives it the suggestion of a little more girth. I'm thinking this beer should have been filtered, as it is the yeast seems to be causing part of its muddiness, and throwing off some of the flavors that are there. I'm also guessing that there's somewhat of a complicated grain bill behind it, which is not what West coast IPA is about. Anyway you look at it though, the final product just doesn't come across that well. It reminds me of a poorly planned homebrew.
Review# 6,296

Look: Murky apple cider look. Bright white line of head.

Smell: Grapefruit, tangerine. Not really a big nose.

Taste: Extremely salty. Not really sure why it tastes so salty to me. That's all I can taste.

Overall: Not sure what went wrong here but its overly salty. Literally tastes like a handful of salt was put into my beer. I can see what they were going for but the balance is off.

Pours a very attractive slightly cloudy orange amber with a solid finger of white sticky head that leaves plenty of thin lace. 4.25

Smell is pine resin, apricot, honey dew, herbal hops, and some nice grapefruit rind. 4

Taste follows pine, herbal tea maybe, mellon, and grapefruit pretty darn balanced in a positive way. 4

Mouthfeel is a solid medium, plenty of life, not really dry, and drinks bigger than 6% in flavor,but very drinkable. 4.5

Overall this is a very nice beer, still more East than West for me, but a very nice brew all around. 4

 

Sampled at the Granite State Brewers Fest. Slightly hazy light golden color. Earthy resinous pine and a fair amount of caramel and lightly oxidized hop attributes. Decent IPA.