Captured Tides
Forest & Main - The Brewery

16oz can purchased from the fridge as a single from a local bar/bottle shop for $5.05. No canned on date; says on Instragram that it was released on September 22, so that means that this is being consumed at almost 12 weeks old.

Look: Pours a light to medium gold color with a moderate haziness. It's pretty pale. The head dissipated to a very thin, off-white layer and nice lacing.

Smell: Very nice juicy and zesty grapefruit aromas. Seems weird, but I also get a vanilla note that is interesting. Green bell pepper on the finish after swirling the glass. It smells pretty simple, and really nice.

Taste: Very tasty. It has a lot of citrus and tropical notes going on - grapefruit, orange zest, mango. It's very juicy up front. The beer finishes with a strong bitterness with notes of grapefruit pith and pine along with some peppery notes. It has a very light malt bill. That being said, it still tastes very balanced between the juicy citrus up front and the bitter finish. It's pretty easy to drink and it's very crisp, clean, and refreshing. Quite enjoyable and thirst-quenching.

Feel: Medium bodied, perhaps a bit lighter. The finish lingers long. A bit of a chewy finish. Crisp, clean, and refreshing.

Overall: I love the idea of using Strata (along with Simcoe, Columbus, and Cascade) in a West Coast IPA, especially because Strata is typically being used for Hazy IPAs nowadays. I really enjoyed this beer, which is no surprise because Forest & Main makes it. Cheers!

From Instagram:
6.6% West Coast IPA. We’re really delighted with this one, and want to guzzle it all down. We brewed it with a simple grist of German barley and secret brewing sugars, and hopped it quite enthusiastically with Simcoe, Strata, Columbus, and Cascade. It hits all the right notes of classic West Coast citrus and pine, but that Strata brings this creamy tangelo strawberry thing, all those hop notes melding beautifully, finishing with a zippy bitterness and an appropriate dryness.⁣