Forest Critters
Masthead Brewing Co.

16 oz can served in a shaker pint glass. Date stamp on bottom of can: canned on 07/02/24 10:24. This one was given to me as a gift, but it's 18 months old....so let's see how it held up.

Appearance: Cloudy golden yellow, not even translucent when held up to the light. 1/4" thick persistent white head with lots of lacing all over the glass. Fits the style well in appearance.

Smell: Citrus aroma, mostly orange, with a little bit of underlying fresh squeezed sweet orange juice and a hint of tropical fruit.

Taste: Tastes a lot like it smells, with definite orange flavors, and some underlying sweetness & oats as well. Muted a bit in taste. Lightly bitter at the finish, although it becomes a bit more tea-like as it warms up.

Mouthfeel: Soft, light carbonation, sticky on the teeth, chewy, thick.

Overall / Drinkability: Definitely has lost some of the hop flavor. Body and carbonation are still there, but after 18 months, not surprisingly it's a shadow of what it probably was originally. Still, there is something good in this such that I need to seek it out fresh, and I think pair it with a meal. I can kind of tell it's a DIPA - the alcohol doesn't burn, but it shows up quickly. With something fresh, I might miss the alcohol and instead want more of it, but for now, one is enough.

 

 

A white head of moderate height builds over a pineapple juice yellow body that comes just shy of fully opaque.

Chalky dankness and spicy tropical rinds make for a solid NEIPA.

Pours a murky juicy off yellow, minimal head, lots of lacing. Aroma is bright, pineapple and stone fruit. This is fantastic. Easily the best thing I’ve had from Masthead. Sharp citrus notes, pineapple and grapefruit are balanced by the underlying mango. The feel is velvet, hard candy and cream soda. Wow, fantastic

 

 

This was super yummy and fresh, tastes like those rich hopy pineapple grapefruit hazies from Outer Range or Cerebral. I also found this one a little expensive but I'd still buy it again. Delicious

 

Nice new pandemic addition to the lineup

 

 

 

1 PINT can
Served in a stemless wine glass

This beer pours yellow and turbid. A few chunks of yeasts settle on the bottom of the glass. It is topped with a couple inches of eggshell colored head that leaves decent lacing.

The smell is citrus and tropical fruit. Grapefruit seems to stand out.

The taste is citrus with a focus on grapefruit. Grapefruit bitterness in the finish.

Medium bodied with a creamy mouthfeel

This is a tasty IPA from Masthead. The grapefruit bitterness grows as I consume. Very enjoyable

 

October 14, 2020
For me, this is a tough style to rate. I usually bias my ratings in favor cheaper ones - more expensive ones require a higher standard. This one is pricey (over-priced). But I usually cut loads of slack for one of my favorite brewers. I am only slightly disappointed by this. How good could it be? New England IPA's are pretty similar.

This pours mostly cloudy with a medium yellow. The aroma is nice and funky without being nasty. The taste is right where you expect these to be - typical New England IPA - they are all nearly alike. It has a nice bitter and slightly boozy aftertaste.

Not recommended (poor value). I think this is the first Masthead I did not recommend.

July 19, 2024
Ditto. Exactly what he said. Too bad I didn't check my notes. It is a really nice drinking big hazy IPA with a well filled-out flavor. The aroma is beter than my original rating. Still a shitty value.

Is my escape from IPA bitterness becoming too common a path tread ?
For about a year now, NEIPAs were my answer to trying new breweries ... without having to try their AIPA.
After all, NEIPAs offer a fruity aromatic delight whose taste followed so well that the hops' bitterness never seemed to bother me buds. But increasingly, those bitter hops do.

So it is with Forest Critters. Looks are common to the style, slightly above average. Smells are Forest Critters' strength and are a bountiful tropical fruit medley. Tastes follow, but before mid-palate the bitterness takes over and is the weak part of the show. In the mouth, it is bubbly; but not cleansing, more like a bitter cloying.

Bought from Tavour. I will probably give the second can to my hop-head nephews.

But, Masthead is trying to help revive Cleveland's downtown; which has long been struggling. One more micro-brewery can only help, even if it is only 3.5 years old specializing mostly in IPAs. Even as a malthead, I wish them well and give them some extra OA Hugs.

 

 

A: The beer is very hazy to cloudy yellow in color. It poured with a finger high white head that died down, leaving a large and thin patch of bubbles covering the surface and some lacing down the sides of the glass.
S: Moderate aromas of grapefruit rind are present in the nose.
T: The taste follows the smell and has additional notes of stone fruit and hints of gooseberries. As the beer warms up, there are hints of coconuts.
M: It feels medium-bodied and juicy on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: The smell of this beer starts off with lots of grapefruit but the taste is more balanced out.

Serving type: can