Casey Jones
The Ways Brewery and Restaurant

The Ways Brewery and Restaurant "Casey Jones"
16 fl. oz. can without production codes or freshness dating

Notes via stream of consciousness: Uh-oh, here we go, an "American IPA" at just 5.2% ABV? That sounds like a session IPA to me. It's poured a clear amber-orange colored body beneath a finger's width of creamy white foam. The head retention isn't great but we'll see how that goes after it warms up a bit and I pour the remaining 4 or so ounces.The aroma is bold like an IPA, I'll give it that, with tropical fruit and a hint of pine over some biscuity (meaning cookie) malt. The flavor follows the aroma with a sweetish and just lightly medium-caramelish malt that's threaded through with notes of pine, tangerine, melon, grapefruit, and peach. It's also a bit floral and spicy. Nicely done there. The bitterness is firm and balancing, perfectly matching the sweetness of the malt and leaving it mainly dry in the finish but with a little bit of bitterness coming forth as the malt fades. It lingers with a drip of malt, some melon, citrus, peach, pine and a moderate amount of bitterness. In the mouth it's medium bodied and gently crisp-then-smooth. Its restrained carbonation works for me in terms of mouth feel and less acidity (CO2 is acidic), but it doesn't help the head retention. That's a fair trade-off in my opinion, and the lacing that's left behind is quite nice. All in all I think this is a great beer. It's fairly simple, and yet there's some complexity to it. Should it be labeled as an IPA? Probably not. I'd call it a hoppy pale ale or a session IPA, although I personally hate the term "session IPA". Additionally, I know that the term "IPA" sells, and many people will simply ignore a pale ale because they expect it to be boring, so I understand labeling it as an IPA just to get them to consider it. Nicely done.
Review #9,476

In a clear pint glass drawn from a tap, this one arrived light copper colored and more translucent than opaque. There's not much head and what was there seemed to be quickly converted into glass lacing. Not particularly aromatic, malt seems to win out over hops for the nose. This is a pleasant tasting AIPA. There's enough malt body and contribution to the taste, no longer guaranteed in an American IPA. Yet, it's not overly sweet, nor malty and the malt/hop balance is nice. For an IPA, the hops are noticeable, but not to the level that non-hopheads should object. This is a great go to brew and one that you'd probably order again.