Soft Light and Cotton Candy Skies
Black Spruce Brewing Company

my first from black spruce, they have some real hype around them, super cool how much alaska craft beer has taken off, i was blown away on my recent trip just how much is here and how good it has all gotten, mostly. this is a really modern double hazy, thiolized yeast and double dry hopped, the magic words these days it it seems. a creamy pale orange look to this and a frothy white head with awesome lace and retention. the nose is super dry hop forward, honeydew melon, green strawberry, pineapple candy, and lime zest, the forward intensity of the hops shows neat technique and the power of the thiolized yeast, its bold but never harsh or vegetal in the least. its slightly yeasty in the taste to me, like it could have been cleaned up a little bit after the ferment, not messy or anything, and its not an off flavor, it just has more sort of doughy yeastiness than it needs, plenty still in suspension it seems. light mid palate spiciness but its never bitter, sweet orange and meyer lemon brightness toward the finish, and juicy and tropical too at the end, mango and papaya vibes. i love the pungent hops, they seem transformed and almost past their full potential here, and the mix of varietals is different enough for this to stand out in that regard too. a little fuller feeling, some grain density, but it stays on the dry side, just a lot of structure. a tasty and inventive first impression for me of black spruce, i hope to be able to check out the brewery when i am up there later this summer! really solid ipa here.