Insensitive - Citra, Mosaic, NZ Cascade, Ekuanot
Definitive Brewing Company

Though this is my fourth beer from Definitive, it is my first in their "Insensitive" series of ever-changing DDH IPAs with different hop varietals in each batch. This one uses Citra, Mosaic, New Zealand Cascade, and Ekuanot. Of course, like most sane IPA consumers, I enjoy Citra and Mosaic hops to a good extent and consider them a pretty much "hard-to-mess-up" pairing of modern, high-quality varietals, but I have no idea what makes NZ Cascade different from US Cascade, and I have never had a high opinion of Ekuanot (even when it was known as Equinox). Let's see what's going on here and hope it's as great as my other experiences with this brewery have been!

The pour is an opaque orange color with a definitively (you like that?) darker bent than many other NE/hazy IPAs I've had lately. The head is pretty consistent and retentive, building up to a full finger and sinking to a half after a bit, leaving behind a consistent sheet of chunky, well-defined lace with great legs as it simmers down to that point. Yeah, this looks nice. I am enjoying the deeper hue, too. Excited to see what's happening here.

This has a ton of fun character to it, even though I'm not a big fan of the typical grassy/earthy/green pepper-y Ekuanot profile, so that's saying something! Some fruit gum esters up front with dense mango layered with grapefruit, floral character, and dankness. I pick up a bit of fresh-cut grass, pomelo, and black raspberry with subtle hints of pink peppercorn and blueberry. Like I said, it's a very strange and cool combination of "typical" IPA notes with some unusual stuff happening beneath the surface a bit if you're willing to dig and discover.

I guess NZ Cascade is also known as "Taiheke" but it seems like that name may not have caught on despite it having changed nomenclature some time in 2016. Probably just easier to still call it Cascade because, well, it seems pretty similar overall other than having higher alpha acids and a bit more "tropical" character according to some sources I've checked. The flavor here is driven by tropical fruit with a good amount of citrus, spice, grassiness, and earthy undertones that highlight a cool hop interplay. I pick up papaya, ripe mango flesh, dank resinous greenness, a little bit of that "chive/green pepper" vegetal quality Ekuanot can bring (without it being overbearing whatsoever), and light notes of crushed aromatic flowers and orange peel. Some estery qualities and a touch of anonymous fruitiness reminding me of "tutti-frutti" jelly beans pokes out toward the end of each sip.

The feel here is pretty big for only being 7% ABV, and it's one of the elements that makes this less than amazing. Now, I think this ABV is actually pretty good for what's happening here in terms of hop combinations and hop expression in general; anything lower and the DDH, with so much going on, probably wouldn't be able to encapsulate what the brewers wanted to show off. Conversely, anything higher and you run the risk of making it too messy and pushy, given Mosaic (and probably Ekuanot, in this beer's case) and its capability to run amok and overdo things. I think this is too heavy for what they wanted, and it makes drinking a whole pint kind of challenging, especially because there's a ton happening. The soft carbonation and smooth profile kind of doubles-down on this issue, to me, and leaves the beer feeling a little bit overbearing. That said, I enjoy the flavors and complexity, and would try future Insensitive iterations!