Parliament Flight
Tripping Animals Brewing

 

Can dated 1/10/20 into pint glass. Pours a murky amber with a nice off-white head. Great lacing. Initial impression is orange, berries, a touch of pine, juicy pineapple, and caramel. Fairly sweet overall. Mouthfeel is sticky, very juicy and quite soft. Finish is sweet and not bitter, with lots of juicy berries. Overall, a little sweet for my tastes but YMMV.

What happens when Tripping Animals and Unseen Creatures join forces? Apparently this beer, my first from TA (though I enjoyed a can of Virtual Zoology, a collab between TA and Widowmaker, with a buddy who works at the latter brewery). This was canned on 12/3/20 and features oats as well as Mosaic, Vic Secret, and Strata hops. Sounds like a fun little hazy double IPA. Let's see what's in store, shall we?

The pour here is not particularly special, but it's also not bad either. A dingy-looking light amber/orange color with a dishwater-like stable haze that builds up a really nice collar of white foam that leaves behind excellent, streaky lace with cobweb-like patterns. The legs here are quite nice as well, so I'm willing to forgive the mediocre-leaning color and haze profile that just kinda had this looking average right off the bat. Definitely not bad overall, but still not the prettiest hazy IPA out there.

The nose has a lot of jammy raspberry and blueberry crossed with some earthy spice, pine needles, dankness, grassy undertones, a hint of papaya, and some light marshmallow-like notes. Well then, this is gonna be weird, I think. I didn't really know what to expect, of course, but this seems to be going hard on the Mosaic right off the bat. The berry aspect is super powerful here... maybe the most intensely berry-ish handling of Mosaic I've experienced yet! VS lends some dankness and tropical stuff with a hint of spice, and Strata brings more waves of tropical fruit and more berries, so I guess the Mosaic/Strata combo could be what's really making those elements pop here. Either way, it's a cool smelling IPA!

On the tongue, this is also intriguing and juicy with some strong flavors of pine and earthy chive quickly melding with blueberry, blackcurrant, and complex red berry flavors that transition once again to hints of tropical fruit and pine-like bitterness in the finish. Tons of passion fruit and juicy papaya here; it's pretty crazy. Light floral and spice elements pop up as I get about halfway in, and overall I'm just impressed by how much is happening that still remains pretty memorable and, well, quality. I think my first impression was oddly "meh" but this is growing on me quite a bit. The feel is a bit spritzier than some other "oat-focused" double IPAs I've had, but it's not bad by that token; just a note I feel should be made. I'm impressed, to be honest. Cool stuff. I'll buy more TA if I have the opportunity to!