West
Dragan Brewing and Wine

473 mL can from Superstore; dated May 25 2021 and served slightly chilled.

Pours a foggy golden orange colour, producing one finger of soapy, lumpy white head that dissipates within five minutes or so. A generous collar of creamy froth is left encircling a bubbly, filmy cap, with gobs of beautiful lace adhering to the glass; looks great. It smells of grapefruit, orange, mango and lightly caramelized malts, with hints of earthy, piney hops also coming through; faint suggestion of berries, too.

Good stuff; not a 'showy' IPA, but it comes together quite well - the malts come off as bready/doughy with mild honeyed sweetness, overlapping with plenty of hop goodness. I'm getting grapefruit, tangerine and syrupy canned stone fruit, with touches of honeydew transitioning into a moderately earthy, piney finish and bittersweet, fruity aftertaste. Medium-full in body, with low carbonation that weakly agitates the surface of the palate, resulting in a relatively smooth, generally satisfying mouthfeel. The alcohol is not a big factor - you can sort of tell it's there, but it's more of a slight warming vs. outright booziness. I polished off my glass pretty quickly, and could've handled another - at nearly 7%, it's more drinkable than it should be.

Final Grade: 3.97, a B+. Dragan's West IPA is practically a refreshing change of pace from the hazy crazy pale ales that have come to dominate craft beer shelves over the past couple of years. This is a very solid brew that deftly balances its various flavours - not too bitter, not too sweet, not too hot, and definitely not one-dimensional - with its Simcoe and Amarillo hops delivering a classic West coast-style aroma and flavour profile that I found highly enjoyable. It's absolutely worth keeping an eye out for, assuming you're partial to this stripe of IPA.