Citra Double (Crushable Series)
Moonraker Brewing Co.

 

Can poured into a Mountain Rambler Brewery pint glass

A: Pours hazy golden yellow with a frothy cream white head that settles to a firm layer and laces beautifully.

S: Ripe tropical and stone fruit, citrus, grassy, floral, slight spicy herbal notes, biscuity malt, and caramel sweetness.

T: Big tropical and stone fruit, mango, passion fruit, papaya, apricot, peach, and melon, citrus, lime, orange, and grapefruit, a bit floral, spicy herbal grassy notes, biscuity malt, and caramel sweetness with a little alcohol coming through.

M: A bit on the fuller side of medium body, moderate carbonation, soft on the palate.

O: Great Citra flavor and intensity as expected. My only gripe is that the alcohol comes through more than it should, definitely more than I remember from the last time I had this one (when it was 8% not 8.5%). Definitely gonna try and grab it again the next time they release it to see if I this round just came out a little hot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pours a hazy dark yellow with fine, soft foam.

Smell is juicy and a bit sweet with notes of oranges, mango and peach puree.

Taste follows the nose in juiciness and sweetness. The fruits from the nose reappear, along with peaches and a hint of vanilla. Soft bitterness, and a dry, slightly chalky finish.

Mouthfeel is medium, soft and pillowy and well carbonated.

Overall, a terrific NE DIPA, smooth and tasty.

 

Canned 04/12/19

Appearance - Pours murky and faded orange with a white, half finger width head. Not much time passes before the head fades to a thin, broken layer of suds with a thin ring around the edge of the glass. No real lacing to speak of.

Smell - The aroma hits on orange, tangerine and some pineapple with a light creamy note in there as well.

Taste - Smooth, creamy citrus with lesser pineapple, mango and pine. Almost a vague, vanilla-like sweetness in there too. Slight touch of pine and spice in the finish, but largely

Mouthfeel - Medium in body with fair, tingly carbonation. Slick and creamy makes this an easy drinker before a slightly dry finish.

Overall - I don't know that it's all that much different than the previous iteration, maybe a bit creamier and sweeter, but at 1/2% more I suppose I won't complain about the recipe change, lol.

Just had another one of these last night while having a fire on the front porch. The dead apricot tree had some fuel in the front yard, needed to get it out of there and make some smores at the end of the night.

Hazy yellow body, 1/3" white head. Nothing special in the looks department. The aroma is just draped in all things citrus, tangerines, oranges, papaya. Very nice.

Taste, man so good and easy to drink. Hovers in that 45 ibu land feels wise, but they say its up around 80ibu, not overly bitter or acidic, but keeps pumping all the sweet citrus and light melon notes throughout. Moonraker is as good as anyone in the world at making dipas and hiding the 8.5% alcohol in them, and this is yet another pristine example of what they do. Its very easy to crush, hence the namesake. The flaked body is wet, not dry if that makes sense, this isn't the super dry crisp west coast malt body. Its a flaky saturating type.

World class stuff.

Pours a deep straw to pale gold color, full on haze, fluffy white head. Nose is lots of mango, grapefruit, pineapple and pine. Flavor follows the nose with a wonderful white bread malt character and the 80 IBU definitely comes through on the back end with a soft mouthfeel. This is the kind of journey I want a hazy DIPA to take me on

The last of the four different Moonraker cans I grabbed from the store last weekend. 4/12/19 Can date (so its just under two weeks old).

This is the first Citra forward DIPA I have had in the better part of a decade that comes remotely close to Lawson's Double Sunshine. It's juicy for sure, but while I am not a huge Hazy IPA fan...the haze here doesn't detract from the rest of the beer (nor does it prop up it's weaknesses). This is excellent.

The bitterness eases on through the palate with a ribbon of acidity that I would swear is pineapple/grapefruit juice. The mouthfeel and flavor blossom in a way that really impresses me. I am pleasantly surprised because I like IPA's to have a decent bitter backbone (and this seems the most bitter of the 4 I tried (Papillon, Mosaic Double, All Hops On Deck, and this). It brings nearly all the notes of Double Sunshine but in an ever so slightly softer/creamy way. Of the four beers, this is the only one I would buy again for personal consumption. I'm happy the brewery is 20 minutes away and even happier a store that carries 2 week old cans is 3 blocks away.

Last Words: Not many brewers do Citra justice...throw Moonraker Citra Double in the conversation. 95+

 

I rarely get to try Moonraker because they sell out so quickly, glad I got my hands on this one. Looks a little thin, very pale orange juice. Candied and dried sweet fruit on the nose, like the dried, sugar-covered mangoes you can get at the store. Very juicy but enough hop bitterness to cut through it. Not much alcohol burn/buzz for 8.5%. Flavors take me to the tropics, guava/orange/mango/pineapple. Long lingering fruity sweetness. Definitely thicker mouthfeel than it looked like it would be. Sticks with you like drinking a glass of juice.

#beertruth