Rake/Breaker
Varietal Beer Company

Pours a deep dark yellow. If it were clea rit would be that quintessential beer presentation. As it is, it's medium opacity, with a nice solid white head which seems to cling lovingly to the glass.

Nose is nice with some dull grapefruit, some peach... it actually almost kind of reminds me of a rich gummi, like peach or mango or something. Decent light caramel/grainy malts underneath.

Flavour tries to wind a fairly narrow path with a sharply sweet, but somewhat subtle peach thing laced through the middle in a cozy piney corridor that culminates in bitter grapefruit and a bit of floral. It does carry a fairly oily sharp bitterness that builds and gets a bit cloying, necessitating slow work through the can.

Reasonably smoothe up front with prickly little dots of carbonation, my biggest complaint is that cloying oily sharp bitterness that builds up.

Tasty overall. It feels cozy. If it didn't have that sharpness (which may be accentuated by the alcohol I suppose at nearly 9%...) it would be one I would long for them to make again. As it is I'll enjoy my can and if it comes back I'd probably snag one, but I won't be pining for the fjords as it were.

draught
Everlasting, off-white and creamy head. Medium light gold appearance. Full, grapefruit and some mixed citrus peel and caramelized, medium toasted malt aroma. Plenty of grapefruit peel, with a fairly ample, medium toasted, caramel malt, for the taste.

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a medium golden amber with a fine, one finger white head with great retention and solid lacing. Aroma of pale malt, citrus and fruit hops, peach, lemon, passion fruit and slight dankness. Flavor is pale malt, fruit and dank hops, grapefruit, light stone fruit, lemon and a touch of pine that lingers in the finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. Another example of the West Coast IPA style changing to include mixed fruit hops. Lots of varied fruit flavors in this one, but good citrus and some unexpected pine in the finish lean to the traditional of this style. The hop bill sounds busy with fruit flavors, but is a pleasant combination that reveals new notes throughout the taste. It sold me on the light pine in the finish with a solid bitterness lingering. Enjoyable and worthy for an anniversary ale.

Another perfectly clear amber brew. Abundant foam in the tall goblet. Pleasant hot and slightly sweet malty underpinnings. Big aromatic blast of hops leaves a moderately bitter aftertaste with lemon and grapes in the nose. Interesting flavor of green apricot with a hint of mint. Resiny finish with some mineral taste. Sharp, but not overly acidic. The sweetness also dissipates for a dry finish, but the malt taste keeps it friendly. From the 16 oz can purchased at Elizabeth Station. Stamped "BB 10/2023."