Small Beer American IPA
Beer Street Brands

same target audience as their flagship lager, this one just has hops in it, is objectively worse, and kind of misses the session mark on flavor, but i still think an ipa makes sense for this operation, which is positioning themselves as a lifestyle brand for the self proclaimed enlightened crowd who is too arrogantly health conscious to get messed up enough to get hungover, which i guess is a value judgement from someone who finds himself there all too frequently, but whatever, todays youth are different and this is custom made for them. i was recently in the uk and found a ton of quality hoppy beer under 4% abv, its a cultural thing over there, and they all still seemed to have some grain to them, this is dumbed down to the point of not having much beer character, and where it was flattering to their lager, it is much less desirable here, in a style where flavor is the point, surprised there isnt more crossover with those old world examples and the crowd who is making this brand work here in the states, maybe its an educational thing, i dont know. real blonde, nice and fizzy, and some head to it, looks like it lacks structure, and it does, but its not unpleasant to look at, just a little more to it than their lager. the aroma and flavor are first of all a bit oxidized, a tough reality for a beer like this, lightly vegetal, some bitterness too, but very little desirable hop character, more pellet than volatiles, some grassiness but on its own thats not really enough, and i think this stacks up real poorly against even moderate session ipa in the craft sense, but still is better than a lot of the fully non alcoholic ipa, which has by and large been really rough. light orange maybe, pils type maltiness, and very dry and light bodied overall, easy down for sure, some modest bitter recall. i dont think true craft enthusiasts are looking for a brand like this as an escape route, so the double dry hopped hop product modern ipa drinkers are not going to flock to this and thus those likely to be most disappointed will probably never drink it, for the uninitiated, its a fine approximation of the style, if dumbed down to the point of lacking personality is acceptable. look, its easy to be critical of any company who appears to take their marketing more seriously than their liquid, but this does bridge a gap and serves to make ipa, at least some version of it, more accessible to the general consumer, and thats a win for beer as a whole. i wont be in a hurry to have more of this, but i get what its going for and seems to be well positioned to accomplish its mission...