First Tracks
Third Space Brewing

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First Tracks IPA
Third Space Brewing Co.
Style: West Coast IPA
Overall Rating: 3.25 / 5

Look – 3.25
Pours a confident golden hue with a proper two-inch head when given an aggressive pour. There’s a touch of haze, but let’s be clear—this is not a hazy IPA. This is West Coast through and through. Bright, clean, and honest. It looks like an IPA that knows exactly what it is and isn’t trying to cosplay as juice.

Smell – 3.25
The nose opens with a familiar forest character—pine first, pine always. Sharp, green, and just flirting with that ammoniac, cat-box edge you sometimes get from assertive hops (Simcoe, maybe? Probably—don’t quote me). It’s restrained rather than explosive. No pineapple. No orange juice. No tropical vacation. Just trees. Western trees. Stick with me here.

Taste – 3.25
This is where the beer plants its flag and refuses to move. Pine, resin, and green bitterness—like standing still in a sunlit forest where the air smells clean but stubborn. You keep waiting for fruit to show up… orange? pear? pineapple with sugar and flair?

Nope.
It will not come.

Disappointing to some? Sure.

This beer does not evolve. It commits. If you’re looking for Midwest compromise or East Coast juiciness, look elsewhere. This is a deliberate throwback—lean, bitter, and dry. A baseline West Coast IPA, not reinvented, not fabricated, just reasserted for all who have lamented its fading presence.

Feel – 3.25
Medium-bodied, crisp, and dry. Nothing fluffy, nothing soft. It drinks clean and finishes firm, reinforcing the pine-forward bitterness without dragging. No syrup. No juice box. Just structure. Somewhere, angels sing—but quietly.

Overall – 3.25
Solid beer—just not my personal preference. I’ll admit there are tastier and more expressive IPAs out there, and many will disagree with me. I respect that, okay?

This beer represents a foundational West Coast IPA profile—a style that’s been overshadowed for a while but never erased by hazy, fruity trends. We keep growing, styles keep shifting, but the foundation still matters. You like what you like. Nonetheless.

It’s not trying to be juicy.
It’s not trying to be modern.
It’s trying to be correct.

And in that sense, it succeeds—until it won’t. Then things will change again, and we’ll gloat or grumble accordingly.

Styles evolve—West Coast to East Coast to Midwest hybrids—but this one stands firm in its lane. If you want purity, pine, and bitterness without apology, this is your beer. If you want fruit, haze, or sweetness… eat some fruit like a man and grab something else.

Amen, brother.

 

Appearance: Pours a somewhat clear (40% clarity) light golden color with a strong white head. SRM of 8. (4.00)

Aroma: Strong aromas of grapefruit rind, citrus, lemon, and some dank pine, light herbal notes. (4.00)

Flavor: Strong flavors of grapefruit, lemon citrus, rind, and some lemony pine on the finish. Mildly bitter.( 3.75)

Feel: Lighter bodied, strong carbonation. Clean and bright pine linger. (4.00)

Compared to SN Celebration 11/24: Pours lighter, similar head. Lighter aromas. More lemon, herbal, dank pine. Less caramel, resinous, and bitter.

Overall: Always up for trying another 3 Sheeps beer. As usual in 3 Sheeps glassware. This is a German Pilsner from their Beer Garden. Floral hops, with a smooth pale malt body. Very nice. (Rating: 3.90)

 

Poured from a can into a pint glass. Pours orange red with a small white head. Smells of citrus and earthy hops. Tastes of citrus and grassy hops, very nice combination. Beer si light bodied and easy drinking, good carbonation. Overall, a very good beer.