Staircase to Nowhere
Akademia Brewing Company

Not bad, but not my favorite of their recent IPAs. They have been on a tear with different hop varieties, additions, and styles of IPAs recently, and some work, some don't, and some are amazing. This one works, but is a tad pedestrian. Balanced, somewhat hoppy, a little lighter in style, but not moreish.

Appearance: Hazy orange. Produced a nice fluffy head with moderate retention.

Aroma: Citrus fruit forward, lots of oranges and tangerines. Mild pine, but not overpowering. No malt aroma.

Flavor & Aftertaste: Citrus forward flavors, some pine notes and little resinous. Amazingly restrained bitterness. Low on sweetness, despite no bitterness to balance.

Mouth-feel: Medium body. Low astringency. Dry with low palate carbonation. Finish is mild, dry and lengthy.

Overall: Rating this vs other DIPA beers. Not a big fan of the Hazy DIPA style, primarily because it underemphasizes malt flavors and most are not sessionable because of high ABV and hop burn. This particular DIPA is an exception. While the hop flavors and aromas vastly overshadow any malt characteristics, that is typical of the style. The hops combination (Mosaic, Idaho 7, Chinook) provides pleasant aromas of oranges and tangerines. There are some pine & resinous notes that may not be pleasant to some drinkers; but they are not too strong for me. Ugly looking beer, but that is right on point for the style. Overall, this is an very well crafted Hazy DIPA. Very pleasant to drink. Avoided unpleasant hop burn in the sample I had. Akademia does a great job with a good range of beers. Extremely underrated and underappreciated brewery in Georgia.