O'Shea's Grapefruit India Pale Ale
Carlow Brewing Company

 

 

Poured from bottle into tulip, scant 1 finger cream colored head, recedes to a pool within a minute, good lacing. Pale golden hazy in the glass. Muted grapefruit on the nose, something else peaking thru almost a spicy character. Taste is slight malt sweetness, a small amount of grapefruit, then a snap of bitterness on the finish. The middle of this beer has a flat muted citrus going on, but it doesn't pop. Could have easily achieved this better with hops than juice. The finish has a small lingering grapefruit on the palate

 

Has nice looks and bitterness, and slight juiciness. Otherwise kind of a musty, jumbled up beer. Starts out very odd and finishes better. Later on in the pint it starts to approximate a grapefruit ipa more, but still lacks the aroma demanded by this style.

 

From the bottle from the Aldi 2020 Advent Calendar, it pours a clear (!) golden amber with an modest head that lasts a while. In the nose, it has some slight fruity notes and in the mouth, it is pleasant with, again, some slight fruity notes.

 

330 ml bottle with a 28 August 2021 BB date stamp on the neck.
Poured into a lager glass where the amber colored body turned lightly hazy as some sediment from the bottom of the bottle was added at the end of the pour.
The flavor and aroma are OK but lack harmony and a clear grapefruit note. The latter is surprising given the multitude of IPAs that do have a strong grapefruit note.