Nature Beast
Ruse Brewing

for all the hype around these guys, i still have not had very much of their beer, jumped at the chance when i saw this one. great hop profile to this, which is the best part of it, as it should be i guess with any ipa, but in this case where the base beer seems pedestrian, at least nothing special, the hops stand out as incredible, and while i know its all tied up together in many ways, what they have done with the hops here raises up above the overall quality of the beer as a whole for me. evenly cloudy pale orange beer with a short white head, not overly dense looking which is nice. the aroma is killer, ripe melon and pineapple, green grapes and white wine, and tangerine and mandarin, some southern hemisphere character, no bitterness or greenness, and absurdly fresh. the flavor follows, just a little bit of malt sweetness in support sort of focusing my palate around the oily center of this where pear and cantaloupe fruitiness really pop. some herbal brightness as it warms, cut flowers and lemongrass, more orange on the finish, and very juicy. not overdosed and with good balance, the fermentation is pretty clean too. unremarkable from a grain or yeast standpoint, a little more body than i need too, but the hops are both nicely paired and rightly dosed, and this is better than many as a result. need to get up to the brewery next time i am in town!