Monkey Boy Vs. The Tiny Prince
Widowmaker Brewing

 

Here's a new DIPA collaboration between Widowmaker and Non Sequitur that is apparently named after the epic(?) fight between the breweries' individual dogs when they met one another at WM. Sounds so epic. Joking aside, this beer does seem like it'll be pretty cool, considering it's heavily hopped with Nelson and Citra, and then double dry-hopped with Galaxy, Nelson, Southern Passion, Citra Cryo, and more Citra. Jeez guys. That's intense. I'm expecting some intensity here, for sure.

Pours an ugly, turbid yellow color with a dense opacity to it that renders it completely sludgy and impenetrable. Blech, not a fan so far, though the head forms nicely at about two fingers and retains well, never really setting below a finger and leaving behind a trail of consistent lace. Awesome legs, too, so I at least know this is super hop-focused. I am not kidding when I say this looks disgusting otherwise, though. There has to be some kind of midpoint they could get to between "total muck" and "clear as day" while still looking solid and hazy like a good NEIPA should, but maybe I'm just not cool enough to appreciate this aesthetic.

I could smell this as soon as it started pouring from the can, though, and I am happy to say it smells damn good. Superb focus on the guava/papaya/tangelo aspects of Citra with a hefty dose of Nelson certainly bringing out a ton of gooseberry and white wine aromatics that rival some of my very favorite beers focused on these two hops. I think I've experienced Southern Passion in one other beer before, and it isn't exactly jumping out here but it does seem to bring forward some light grassiness and redcurrant notes if I really focus on it. Not a defining characteristic of this one, but the interplay between Nelson, Galaxy, and Citra is really driven home here in a big way. Intense passion fruit coming out as it warms a bit. Yeah, I do love the smell of this one!

Flavor falls a bit short of expectations brought about by the nose, though. Maybe those expectations were a little lofty, but they didn't end up that way without good reason, honestly. I get strong grassiness and herbal qualities on the tongue with backing notes of tangelo and bitter tannins. Almost green tea-like in a sense, and it tastes slightly "young," though the complexity does seem to imply this is how it is supposed to come across. Perhaps the Cryo Citra is doing something weird (I've given "Cryo" hops the side-eye a few times in past reviews because of my general cynicism regarding the process and marketing revolving around their rise to prominence), but I just find this tastes a little muddier than it should. Not as much complexity as it seemed to telegraph, and the Nelson feels totally missing. Yeesh.

Feel is definitely pretty good, though, and it does help bring this back up to a solid spot, but I really feel like this is one of those beers that promised a lot upfront but failed to deliver when it really mattered. I feel this way about a decent amount of Widowmaker beers, especially their hazy IPAs (which are numerous and difficult to keep track of, even as someone who is very good friends with an employee there), and their collaborative efforts are not immune to this phenomenon. Worth a shot, for sure, but the "roller coaster effect" ("ugh, so ugly... whoa, smells great!... hmm not as good as it could be; whoa, halfway done already?!") is strong with this one, making it overall less satisfying than a consistently good beer that hits all the marks properly.