Thistle
The Drowned Lands

Cracking open the pint can was somewhat foamy, but the pour to empty it entirely into a clear glass liter mug went nicely. There is a bit of excessive stark white foam, but for a modern American hazy IPA there's worse. It recedes slower than many, yet it does so irregularly and it's not very attractive. The liquid beneath is dark apricot-amber in color, dull and opaque, without being murky. There are oats and wheat to smell, but the absence of a good barley malt is noticed by anyone who likes that part of a traditional IPA. Likely, it's the oats in the mix that do a good(?) job at muddling the hop aroma. It drinks smoothly and with a pleasant body, again, likely because of the oats. There's not much of a hop hit during the finish. So, it's not enough to raise the enthusiasm of a hop-head. Although they never bite, the hops are there in enough measure to give this a pleasantly balanced flavor, moderate that it may be. Again, it's a bit muddled, but the hop character starts off with a citrusy bite, before mellowing out. The lacing in the glass is erratic, but surprisingly overall, not a bad visual. It's almost unremarkablely drinkable; pleasant tasting, without being boring and there's no problem with its body. Unfortunately, it's almost characterless.

 

 

Decent, even good, but not remarkable, and with a drying note on the finish.

Drowned Lands is one of my favorite breweries that I've been exploring lately. I've been grabbing almost every can I see from them and most of them have been damn good. They excel at IPAs so I'm excited to try this one. Let's crack it open and see what it has to offer

Pours a cloudy yellow gold with 3 fingers of soapy white head that slowly fades to a thin cap and leaves nice lacing

The nose displays a great balance of bright tropical fruit and more traditional bitter notes. I'm picking up on aromas of pithy grapefruit, orange marmalade, bread crust, earthy hops, honey, blueberry skin, papaya, and light cantaloupe

Surprisingly this is a bit gentle in taste, still solid but not quite the punch I was expecting from it. On the front end of the sip I'm tasting lemon zest, bready malt, red grapefruit, floral hops, papaya, light honey, and white pepper. The swallow brings notes of mango skin, bready malt, pithy grapefruit, grass, earthy hops, honey, blueberry skin, underripe cantaloupe, and white pepper

A medium body pairs with moderate carbonation, resulting in a slick beer. Finishes somewhat sticky but the bitterness dries it out over time

Well this isn't my favorite of theirs but it's still quality stuff

Can from Merchants Sept 2024