Kiwi Double IPA
Toasted Barrel Brewery

so much to say about this one. first, how do you put such an ugly beer in such a pretty bottle? the label art on this is amazing, it looks so darn appealing, and then the beer is this puke green drab dense sludgy brown mess without any head on it, i mean, seriously opposite aesthetics happening here. this is disgusting looking. second, how do you even release this? it makes me doubt the integrity of the brewery. even if this has changed over time, it should be pulled. nobody who drinks craft beer and knows what a good hoppy beer tastes like could in good faith serve this to its customers. frankly, this is the first beer i can remember pouring down the drain in a very long time. its got some things going for it, i love the idea of actually using kiwi fruit with the new zealand hops, and i think some of the fruit comes through, the tang of the skins and the citrusy acidity of the flesh, but the hops seems old and forced, weirdly bitter for what they likely are, and there is a major clash instead of a cohesion. the fruit almost seems on its way to rotten, like compost or something, even chemical, its essence is still here, but not in a delicious way at all. from a technical standpoint this is a total unmitigated disaster, incredibly sloppy and unrefined, fully flat, putrid color, under fermented, possibly infected, its just whack. i am all for experimentation, weird ingredients and new processes, its how we keep it all moving forward, but there has to be a line where you just say okay this didnt work and dump the beer instead of dressing it up in some awesome label and selling it anyway. i was woefully disappointed by this, and it gives me skepticism about toasted barrel in general, even though i have had some great beers from them, this is totally inexcusable. i get that its all subjective, and that some people might like this, but this is just straight up bad. from a score standpoint, i give a visual point for the rad label, and overall a few points for the idea, but this is undrinkable. at least it wasnt expensive. it pains me to say this about a small operation doing their best like this, but its the truth...