Small Batch IPA
Great Lakes Brewing Co.

This is really good. This smells and tastes like pineapple. It is cloudy and a very light colored beer. This is one of the better IPAs I’ve ever had for sure.

 

12oz can from 2025 batch, served in a Achouffe tulip glass. Date on bottom of can: 21:26:45 06/04/25 42025C

Appearance: Lightly cloudy golden yellow with a thin white head. Some strands of lacing noted.

Smell: Light citrus and tropical fruit note. Maybe a bit of pineapple.

Taste: Hop flavors dominate - definite bitter orange, some other citrusy hops, a little bit of tropical fruit. Light cracker-like malt under it. Bitter finish at the end it a bit of citrus peel and light grapefruit note, maybe some other berries under the bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Good thickness, brisk carbonation, dry finish, sticky on the teeth.

Overall / Drinkability: Interesting - wish I knew which hops were in this small batch as I feel the beer was focused on showing off a small batch of specific hops in an IPA recipe. Slow sipping by itself, interesting, but one was enough.

 

Lovin’ it when a plan comes together, the “A” team at Great Lakes create a special small batch beer exclusively for their variety pack.

Pouring a pale golden-straw appearance, Small Batch IPA releases a soft white foam and a scent of citrus, grasses and herbs. A gentle sweetness is decorated with light honey, light caramel and wafers.

Hops abound as the ale greets the middle palate, doing so with the brightness of pink grapefruit, orange peel, tropical fruit peels and suggestions of stone fruit. Trending rapidly bitter, the hops close out the taste with a growing resinous bite of pine, hay, verbena, tea and herbs.

Light, crisp and refreshing, the beer is a throwback to the balance, bitterness and hop derived astringency of IPA a quarter of a century ago, finishing with hints of fruit peel and dry grasses in a long and bitter aftertaste.