Selection Fresh Hop IPA
Industrial Arts Brewing Company - Beacon

Pours a bright amber. Thick foam. Bright hop aroma. Syrupy sweet hot body. Flat bitter finish. Too sweet. Not enough hops. Not very good. A poor IPA. Very disappointing.

Darker and sweeter but extremely smooth!

 

Pours dark amber with off white to slightly tan head. Nose is somewhat dank with citrus coming forward initially. Taste was pine and more malt than I expected. Decent bitterness on backend.

 

Canned on 10/28/2024. Poured into a nonic pint glass. It looks just like Sierra Nevada Celebration: an almost clear, bronze-amber color with almost two fingers of creamy, ecru-colored head and thick lacing. The nose is malty with notes of pine needles and citrus. Its taste is primarily pine sap and grapefruit rind. Where it differs from Celebration is primarily the absence of balancing caramel malt which gives Celebration its depth of flavor. So it is rather one-dimensional. The mouth feel is appropriate: crisp, lite, and drinkable. Cloning an iconic beer is an ambitious undertaking. Industrial Arts is a quality brewer but didn't quite pull it off.

Not the greatest - I might not be a fresh-hop fan since the sierra this year is also meh.

This Celebration clone pours a rich amber from its look-alike can with a robust fluffy 1.5" head; excellent retention and lacing. Nose is very sappy and piney, maple, spicy hops; very lively and fresh on the nose overall with ample West Coast vibes. Taste doesn't quite live up to the nose, but still very good. Light diesel and ethanol up front, followed by some tropical notes as well (mango/papaya). Flavor feels a bit thin as well, with some fruity/estery notes that may just be part and parcel with IA beers. Never got the pine and sap flavors that the nose suggested, and I found this a little hot despite its (relatively) low 6.9 ABV. Feel is what you want - crisp and sharply carbonation with moderate weight.

 

Very apparently a clone of Sierra Nevada Celebration. Similar in every way - nose, taste, appearance and even mouthfeel. A great IPA for those looking for a local alternative to the famous CA beer.