Lime Citrus Citra
Decadent Ales

Pours hazy, pale gold in color with one third inch head. Taste is lime, starfruit, and light orange juice. Light bodied, slightly bitter with moderate carbonation. Nice and clean Dipa. I like it but prefer others from the brewery.

 

Ah, Decadent Ales. We have a storied history, we do... some of their stuff has really irked me, while some has been much more impressive than I ever would've thought. I mean, how do you make an average-tasting, oddly-plastic-y tropical fruit IPA, then turn around and make a perfectly-delicious and craveable "Winter Spiced French Toast" double IPA with Mosaic hops? These guys continuously confound me and my taste-buds, and I'm hoping this new one does just that as well. I just... would like it to be quality beer, though, in the end. Please?

Pours a typical Decadent NEIPA pour... incredibly hazy and "healthy" looking bright yellow beer with only the bare minimum of orange-type hues around the edges. Nice, big, and fluffy head with a lot of foam buildup (maybe a touch more than I was comfortable with upon first decanting the beer, but I digress), though it settles down to a smallish quarter-finger with spotty lace and alright legs. Not bad, but not amazing either.

The nose is pretty much orange juice with the tang of zesty lime involved along with some suggestions that this might just be beer. Yeah... it's kind of a lot. Like, maybe too much. That said, there are some interesting things happening below the surface. Guava candy and intense dankness following the typical Citra profile to a tee, with an aggressive grassiness and tangerine peel all over the place. Slightly too sugary, though, with a smell to it that screams "milkshake IPA," yet I don't see lactose listed as an ingredient. Kind of suspect... something seems off, but it's definitely delivering what they say on the label, so I guess technically it's on track for being a good beer.

So much lime on the palate... jeeeeez, guys. This is like a hard seltzer, almost, with intense orange/lime/tangerine flavors pulling no punches and overtaking the malt nearly-entirely. The strong, almost cloyingly-sweet and nearly artificial(?) flavors toward the end of each sip don't really help my feelings about this one. It's weird, because, I know this is a legitimate beer with legitimate flavors added to it, but it just seems so on-the-nose that it has an "uncanny valley" element to it. I mean, the body is heavy as hell and definitely drinks in the almost-9% realm, so that aspect isn't lost on me, but this really does taste like a hard soda for the most part. The Citra hops are definitely there, but they blend so weirdly-seamlessly with the fruit additions that it is honestly odd. I don't think this is a bad beer by any means, but it does what it does almost *too* well. I recommend it if you're into the idea of a super-citrusy and smooth modern beer that almost drinks like a double-strength hard seltzer with the weight of a big IPA.

 

 

16 ounce can into tulip glass, canned in 9/2019. Pours opaquely hazy deep golden amber color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and fluffy white head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice dense spotty foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big lime, lemon, tangerine, orange juice, citrus peel/zest/rind, red grapefruit, peach, pear, pineapple, passion fruit, papaya, mango, honeydew melon, guava, gooseberry, wood, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, biscuit dough, light toast, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of citrus zest, citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops, and bready malt notes; with big strength. Taste of big lime, lemon, tangerine, orange juice, citrus peel/zest/rind, red grapefruit, peach, pear, pineapple, passion fruit, papaya, mango, honeydew melon, guava, gooseberry, wood, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, biscuit dough, light toast, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of lime, lemon, tangerine, orange juice, citrus peel/zest/rind, red grapefruit, peach, pear, pineapple, passion fruit, papaya, mango, honeydew melon, guava, gooseberry, wood, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, biscuit dough, light toast, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus zest, citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops, and bready malt flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance; and no cloying/astringent hop/zesty flavors after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready/grainy, and fairly sticky/resinous/rindy balanced mouthfeel that is great. Mild increasing warmth of 8.6% after the finish. Overall this is an awesome fruited NEDIPA. All around awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus zest, citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops, and bready malt flavors; very smooth and easy to drink for the big ABV, with the mellowly bitter/resinous/drying finish; great soft feel, and not aggressive. Awesome Citra profile as expected. Extremely vibrant, and fairly juicy/dank/earthy hops/zests; with a great balancing wheat/oat/malt backbone. Mild residual sweetness with lingering resin dryness. A really enjoyable offering, and impressive style example as expected. I seem to like their milkshake NEIPAs a lot more across the board.