Zest Friends
Wonder Aleworks

i was a little lukewarm on the beers in here, some hits but some misses too, but this is one of the good ones, a rather basic, not overly refined west coast type ipa, done with grapefruit zest and heavy handed northwest hops i would imagine, its cleaner than many of their others on the ferment, i like what the citrus adds, seems natural and robust to me, and fully complimentary to the hops, and i found this easy drinking and summery overall. its unfiltered looking, expected higher clarity, but its nice and pale still and its not hazy like the new england ones, the head is short, white, and lasting. nose here is almost grapefruit zest in front of hops, all essential oily and natural, a little bitter bite from the pith, a little sweet and a acid back and forth form it too, and then the hops, which hit on pine and juniper notes, along with some bitter citrus of their own, quite fresh, a little something from the yeast i dont need in the style, but its not messy. love the grapefruit and the hops together, nice flavor and proportions, sweet orange, ruby red grapefruit, wet grass, light pineapple, milled lumber, and an almost cascade hop spiciness on the swallow, really fresh and bright, and not much malt underneath weighing it down, although there is balance to this because the bitterness is restrained and its off dry. the ferment could be a little more tidy and the carbonation could be ramped up, but i think they did a good job with this, makes me feel like summer in the dead of winter, the authentic and robust citrus makes it for me.