Minced Oath
Ever Grain Brewing Co.

Undated can into pint glass. Pours a murky honey-gold color with an exuberant and persistent off-white head. Great lacing. Initial impression is juicy citrus, orange, pineapple, and pine. Slightly sweet. Mouthfeel is quite soft and hefty. Finish fades to slightly sweet pine resin. Another excellent Imperial NEIPA from Ever Grain!

Yes, it's self-described as both an Imperial IPA and a New England IPA. At an ABV of 8.4%, it earns the Imperial class distinction. This begins with emptying the contents of a pint can into a clear glass liter mug. It's foamy and significant head was produced, but it's tightly composed and sustains. An off-white color, the head captures the tint of its color from the brew. That color is very dark apricot-amber and it's very opaque. Likely, no coincidence the first three letters of the second word of its name are "oat", as it looks like there's plenty of it here. There's a good blend of starch and hops to the aroma. Probably because of the strong presence of oats, it's a bit muffled, but softened pine could work as a resemblance. If there's one thing oats do well, it's soften things. Here the mouthfeel is very smooth and soft. The muted piney hop taste is rendered almost biteless. But, it's flavorful, nonetheless. There's a solid hop taste, it just doesn't bite. It is matched by something like a butterscotch sweetness, again not a bad thing here. Even with a heavy starch presence, this isn't sticky, nor chalky. With the modern IPAs, this is exactly what is expected from a good NEIPA. You want hoppy bites, you go to West Coast versions. So based on that premise, this is very good for its style. There's very good glass lacing, almost no notice of the alcohol by the taste buds and just enough flavor delivered in a nice medium to make this a good one.