Willow Glen IPA
Skaneateles Brewery

along with the brown ale this is their best beer in here, incredibly dynamic and uniquely hopped, and i generally dont love them this malty, but it all comes together in a special way, they should be proud of this. i was at first surprised by its pale amber color, not what is trending these days of course, but preferable to a hazy mess in my opinion. the nose is immediately unique, spicy up front with some fresh pine, but herbal and softer in its second half, with dill and lemon and melon notes, neat with the toasted grain actually, balanced in a cool way, very appealing. im pretty sure i smells sorachi ace hops too, one of my favorites, and one of the most identifiable strains out there, and im pretty sure i confirm it when i taste it, but its neat to have this hop, which so often stands alone, and shows up in things like rice lagers, saisons, belgian blondes, be packed in with a bunch of more familiar and traditional northwestern type varietals, higher alpha stuff with big pine resin and spice character. definite lemongrass and lemon curd late, neat on top of all the malt, im not sure i have really seen sorachi ace in this context, and it plays better than expected with others, a weird mix, i wonder what inspired it, but its delicious, and the finish, right on the swallow, is striking every sip, big columbus type hop notes with the majorly unique sorachi ace, just wonderful. the body isnt too heavy for its color, the ferment is pretty clean, and the little bit of sweetness that they leave in it just extends a delicious finish even longer, i dont mind a bit. tempered bitterness, radiant freshness, and honestly a very unique ipa here in a day when more and more of them all look and taste the same. lovely effort here, really shows their full potential!