Brewhouse Rarities: Guava Juice IPA
Flying Dog Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 oz. bottle poured into a tulip glass.

L---Rich, hazy amber color. White head that faded quickly and didn't leave much lacing.

S---Truth in advertising here, guava. It smells more like guava juice than beer. Some orange/citrus as well.

T---More like a fruit beer than an IPA, not that there's anything wrong with that. Very strong guava taste, as advertised. Fruity & tropical.

F---Lighter than I was expecting. Not a full IPA feel. Definitely wet & quenching. Could definitely pound a bunch of these easily.

O---Flying Dog delivers exactly what they promised. Not sure that'd be everyone's cup of tea, but I found it to be very good and I'll keep an eye out for it again.

 

 

This site has been on Sunday since 2000 (EDT), it is now just past 0300 & I don't feel like waiting for somebody to start NBS (Week 694) when I have my New Flying Dog Beer Sunday (Week 694) ready to roll! It took me most of the week, but I am within three (3) CANs of being caught up on my Tavour CANs. In the process of rolling through them, I noticed that I had a number of Flying Dog bottles that were worthy of a brewery horizontal today. This is the second of (potentially) eight (8).

From the bottle: "Kyle is a numbers guy. He spends his days crunching, analyzing and forecasting to the point where spreadsheet has become a verb. If anyone needs a beer at the end of the day, it's this guy. His Rarities pitch had the data to back it up, but what got our brew team excited is the combination of juicy citrus hops and tropical
Guava juice. #SpreadsheetResponsibly".

Once again, there were a good bit of lees visible on the kick/punt before I even Pop!ped the cap. I gave it a nice slow, gentle pour, followed by a vigorous in-glass swirl to raise two fingers of foamy, fizzy, rocky, bone-white head with modest retention, quickly falling away to wisps while leaving some lacing behind in its wake. Color was Golden-Amber (SRM - > 5, < 7) with NE-quality clarity, making The Gelt Gang of Midas, Croesus & Mammon glad that they had not left Chez Woody as they clamored for a taste. Nose was simply redolent with guava! Mmm. Mouthfeel was medium. The taste followed the nose in that it was definitely guava-driven, but it should be remembered that not all tropical fruits are outright sweet. Some, like guava, have a tanginess that make them more attractive. I do not like sweets, as such, so the cutting of inherent sweetness is a bonus for me. I am unsure that I would have recognized it as an AIPA, however, since it was more fruit-driven than hop-driven. I will have to dun them for the deviation from style. Sigh. Finish was semi-dry, kinda fruity, especially lingering with a light tartness. It was an interesting beer, but an AIPA? I remain unsure. YMMV.

This beer pours a slightly hazy muddy yellow with a smaller head. The aroma is muddy and pithy with grapefruit, orange, guava, and pineapple. The flavor starts with grass and cannabis, followed by a powerful guava bit of pineapple. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with aggressive fizziness. Overall this is a decent beer, but I will admit I want way more guava, which is my favorite tropical flavor.

Enjoy by 10/27/18. 12oz bottle poured into a tulip. Pours a hazy glowing golden with a nice white head that falls slowly leaving great thick retention and sticky lacing. The aromas have a nice blend of citrus and crackers. The guava juice comes through. Malts are there. The flavors follow the nose for the most part. More guava juice along with some grapefruit. Some fresh grass. More crackers and fresh bread. It finishes juicy, but it doesn't really drink like fruit juice, which isn't a bad thing. Solid moderate bitterness. Malts do their thing. Alcohol goes unnoticed. Mouthfeel is medium-bodied with moderate to active carbonation. It's fluffy, sharp, smooth and easy to drink.

This is a solid "fruit IPA". It drinks like a beer and not juice. It's refreshing and fun to drink. Not bad at all.

 

Giving this a try on a strong recommendation from the dude behind the counter at Downtown Crown, although fruit IPAs don't always work out for me. Also, I am not a big believer in Flying Dog. Solid head, color, and nose; not too fruity, and balanced.

Flavor starts strong but devolves in the back end with a watery texture and a bit of graininess in the finish. The guava and citrus are not the problem, it just doesn't satisfy or stand up in the way you would expect a good IPA to do. As I find too often with this brewer, more style than substance.