Barn Raiser
The Outskirts Brewing Co.

a true no frills northwestern ipa, my first from these guys and a good one, of technical excellence even. although the beer is admittedly familiar already, a classic combination of higher alpha piney woodsy hops, not shy in the kettle, and a nice balancing richer crystal type malt profile to keep it well rounded. this one is especially clean, polished, and bright, and although i was drinking heavily and it could have been a combination of all the beers kicking in, i still would have guessed this to be a little stronger than it really is, not that it presents as alcoholic, but its hefty anyway, and it helped get me to a place i rarely get, for better or worse, probably worse, definitely worse, probably. anyway, the beer is pretty clear, light to medium copper colored, and holds a peaky white head awhile, looks good in the glass, a new penny shine, ample carbonation. aroma and flavor are identical here, and the thing that strikes me most is how fresh this is, the hops are off the vine new to me, with big pine resin, pink grapefruit, and gin botanical character, to me it seems like simcoe, maybe simcoe and mosaic, maybe some centennial, but its that sort of alpha forward hops, just really good and really fresh ingredients making it stand out from the crowd, not anything exotic or experimental, at least not to my palate, id love to know whats in here! light spiciness to the hops as it warms, juniper, bitter orange, and faint metallic character from the grain, hully and earthy and lightly baked or toasted, hearty and substantial, just right for the hop intensity i reckon. the ferment is very clean, and even though this is off dry, its right on, and i get nothing from the yeast at all. a little brassy, earthy minerality too, medium body but overall this is big on the palate, insane freshness and oil character from the hops, a little pineapple note at the end kind of lightening it a little. really solid for a brewery i had never heard of before, classic take on the style, quintessentially northwestern, dialed in!