#96
Lake St. George Brewing

Very generic IPA. (Not in a bad way, mind you, but it's not the most jubilant praise in the world either.) Balanced flavor with a strong malt base, generic pine and citrus notes, and I guess a round, mildly sweet, sort of pineapple-like finish. Would get again.

Pours crystal clear gold with about 3/4 inch of tight, white foam. The head falls quickly to a ring and islands that persist. No lacing.

The nose opens with grapefruit and maybe a tad bit of orange. There's a strong bready malt that is giving some sweetness. Floating over the top are pine and herbaceous notes.

The taste is straightforward American IPA - nothing fancy. Grapefruit and orange - kind of the whole fruit including the more sharp and oily taste of the peel. It passes off to bready, slightly sweet malts which in turns leads to a fair bit of pine resin and an assertive but not overpowering bitterness. There's a very mild spice. The sweetness of the malt lingers a bit.

The feel is medium- bodied. There's a little tingle I think from the bitter and mildly spicy combo. The after-taste is brief and definitely supports the aromatics - lessens the bitter impact nicely.

This is a very nicely made, well-balanced, traditional IPA. It isn't going to melt your face with hop intensity. Old school, classic. I'm finding the more I drink, the more I like. Meets the style definition well.

(12 oz can, canned on 10/30/20; given as gift, I believe a single had been purchased... poured into a fat tulip)

L: brilliantly-clear, medium-amber liquid, with some sediment specs floating; off-white, rocky, spongy foam, which immediately begins to collapse, leaving only a little lace, and maintaining a thin collar

S: orange/grapefruit peel blend, fruit cocktail juice, and maybe a hint of pine spice in the back; mellow support from a medium crystal malt perhaps as well... classic foresty hop resins

T: hops immediately different on the palate: musk, sultanas, flavored tobacco, fresh-cut spicy grass, desiccated fleshy pineapple rind... the crystal malt note from the nose expresses as predominantly deep-toasted grain, rather dry, with very subtle dried fruit and spiced cookie undertones... the malt toast does linger more prominently in the aftertaste, while the hops gradually evolve from bitter/herbal to spicy citrus/pine; overall expressions are bold but fuzzy

F: relatively lithe body, cut finish; alcohol lends a moderate warmth, while also accentuating the hum/sting of the bitter, spicy nature of the hops... not much residual resinous film; smooth, strident, and swift, start to finish

O: I'd like to try a fresh can, however, this was good, better as it went; sort of a throwback West Coast IPA angle (citrus/pine, Columbus dominant?) (1730)