Whatever's Cool With Me
Small Change Brewing Company

Moderate head which leaves excellent ring lace after each sip. Light amber color with a mild haze.

Piney smell initially but I also pick up a light earthiness. There's also some tropical fruit aroma. In a word, complex.

The taste starts with a mild pale ale flavor. The body is richer than average while the carbonation is as expected. The hop dominates but never overwhelms. Moderate aftertaste.

Can. Pours a dullish orange. Slightly hazy. Some pretty big floater chunks swirling around. Aroma is of sweet, candied citrus hops. Citrus forward. Flavor is also quite citrusy. A little of the more exotic hop flavors. A nice malty finish. Not too bitter or boozy. A beer that was more popularly brewed like 7-8 years ago. Still a decent offering; playbook still works.

Pours a lightly hazy coppery golden orange in color with a finger of white head. Aroma is lightly fruity, a little tropical and piney. Taste has the same tropical fruit and piney notes from the aroma with a moderate bitterness and a little resin in the finish. Medium-light body with moderately low carbonation. Overall a solid beer. It isn’t particularly flashy but does have balance and drinkability.

 

Golden copper color with a 4F head in a Spielgelau IPA glass.

Very piney aroma

Resinous, piney MF. Some tropical fruit.

The taste is similar to the aroma, with strong piney, resinous flavors.

Not too much bitterness in the finish.

Excellent beer. Very enjoyable and drinkable.

16 oz can into IPA glass. Dated 11/11/19.
Look is almost clear yellow. Smell is apricots and a little sweet fruit. Taste follows nose and is fairly dry. Feel is light. Overall would not seek out.

 

 

Picked-up a four-pack of cans at Kappy's in Norwell for about fourteen dollars. Canned-on date of 5/13/19. Have never heard of or seen this brew before. Pretty decent brew, would get again.

 

My second first-review of the night... SC has really been great overall, and this is their first marketed IPA (though they debuted last year with a Mosaic dry-hopped pale ale), and it's a seemingly-simple entry. Citra hops, not "NEIPA-style" and moderate strength (6.2% ABV). This has a lot to live up to based on the quality of their past few beers, but I don't doubt they'll pull it off!

Pours a medium-amber/deep golden color with a stately head of two-fingers of dense white foam that leaves behind intense sheet lace. Well then. I mean, I think I knew they wouldn't be going for a hazy IPA, but I'm not quite sure I expected a full-on old-school-looking West Coast IPA! Lots of hop sediment, so it's not really "clean" looking but it's not even remotely as... er, healthy looking as some IPAs I've had from the Boston area lately. That's good... this sets WCWM apart from the competition quite a bit, and it looks stylish while doing so.

The nose is pretty pure in its dedication to Citra hops, and that's great with me. It has all the cattiness, dank resin notes and tropical fruit (papaya/guava/mango) that you could hope for with undertones of grassiness, chive, and light caramel maltiness. Almost tea-like with a biscuit-y grain element that pokes through after a while. A touch floral with even more green onion and catty fruitiness going on.

I taste pineapple, papaya, mango, and passion fruit with a solid malt backbone that definitely drinks clean and crisp. This is quite an old-school IPA from my point of view... it marries a solid "C" hop dedication with a malty yet balanced backbone that doesn't really reinvent the wheel or utilize bells-and-whistles. It's comforting and reliable, just like this brewery's porter and English dark mild were, but for obviously different reasons. The finish gets fruitier and slightly more resinous as the beer warms, and I actually like this one closer to cellar temp for these reasons. The harsher oily quality associated with the Citra cattiness opens up and calms down as it acclimates to being in a glass. It still has an oily feel, but it's never slick and finishes crisp and detailed, with a crackery grain closing out each sip after the kiss of grassy and piney hops. I would gladly keep this in my fridge over the Summer if I needed a go-to IPA that doesn't over-complicate things but still has enough going on to be interesting and fun to drink. I recommend you do the same if you enjoy the sound of that!