Shellstar
Autodidact Beer

 

Pint pour on draught at the brewery, served in a snulip glass. It's an attractive pour: a dense, opaque, pastel yellow with almost a finger of milk-white, fluffy foam and thick swirls of lacing. The nose offers soft notes of lemon and grapefruit, along with a hint of red berry. The taste is primary tart, bitter lemon and grapefruit. I don't detect any tropical or stone fruit sweetness. This batch is fresh and there is some hop burn at the finish that should mellow over time. I like the mouth feel: it's thick and creamy with appropriate carbonation and it drinks easily at 7% ABV. Overall, Shellstar has a classic New England appearance but the flavor has a West Coast vibe. It is a bit one-dimensional in taste and it suffers by comparison to other Autodidact IPAs.