Hop Blaster IPA
Straub Brewery

12oz can poured into tulip glass. Looks a bit hazy gold color with a white, creamy head. Carbonation bubbles popping up. Some residual hop particles in there. Smell is grapefruit orange, some pine. Taste is citrus fruit up front, bitterness and citrus rind in middle, then lingering citrus in finish. Feel is light-medium bodied with good carbonation. Overall, not as "juicy" as it maybe should be, but a very good, easy to drink, IPA.

 

Happy, hoppy, joyous Easter! I was just finishing up with a Bottle (!) from this brewery when I remembered that I had this one awaiting in a CAN! I had a CAN and then my local, in-person trader @tone77 dropped off CANother one for The CANQuest (tm). Ninkasi clearly wanted me to drink, review & rate this beer! Or was it Ceres? My polytheism gets me all muddled on these religious holidays …

From the CAN: "Peter Straub Signature Brews Hop Blaster IPA"; "Fiercely Independent".

I may have felt a bit of elation during the Crack! of the vent. I was so pleased to hear it that I went with an inverted Glug for the first time in a while! It foamed up beautifully, forming two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, bone-white head with excellent retention, settling into an unmoving, unmovable cap. Color was a deeply-hazy/lightly-cloudy Straw-Yellow (SRM = > 2, < 4) & it was here that I questioned myself. Could I have achieved clarity with a gentler Glug? Does it really matter in the long run? Hmm. Aha! Notes mention it as being "Hazy". It helps to pay attention. Phew! I am going to rate & review this as an NEIPA, given its inclusion of flaked wheat & oats. It had the neo-typical nose of citrus & tropical fruits, which is what I now realize that I like in the style. The tropical fruit-only or tropical fruit-forward versions wore thin with me. Mouthfeel was medium-to-full, not quite creamy, but big for the style with a pronounced softness/slickness on the tongue. The taste was a pleasant mélange of mostly tropical fruit flavors with just enough citrusiness to keep me happy. Finish was semi-dry to dry & very pleasant after so many other recent styles. I have CANother CAN, but I think that I am going to set it aside & share the wealth. YMMV.

Poured from a 12 oz. can. Has a golden color with a 1 inch head. Smell is bursting with grapefruit, light oranges. Taste is the same as the aroma, except the grapefruit and oranges flavors are about equal, moderate bitterness. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is a beer that exceeded my expectations.

Poured from a 12 oz can into a Shy Bear IPA glass

L: Slightly cloudy light golden pour with thick foamy white head. Nice lacing.

S: Citrusy... light grains.

T.F: Light malts and citrus forward hops. Overall mild... Grapefruit and rind with some pine mixed in. Medium to light bodied.

O: A pretty average IPA. Certainly drinkable but not overly memorable. I'd drink it again... wouldn't seek it out.

 

I found Staub's beers to be average at best, but I do like the fact that in PA, you can still get returnables of Straub. When I first started going to Pitt 23 years ago, I walked into a distributor and they had two rows of heavily waxed boxes from many brands, filled with returnable bottles. Now, really rare, but as the laws changed in PA, so did the beer business. Now that distributors sell six packs, people can pick up small releases like this. This has a paste on label on the can.

L: Cloudy. Some carb. little head and sticky lace.
S: Juicy Fruit gum. Grapefruit back .
F: Slight burn/bitter. A little sweet on the aftertaste.
T: I wish I could give great notes on the flavors but you know, it's a mid range IPA. It's decent bitterness and no adjunct taste are a plus. A bit more of the grapefruit flavor. I'd put this more in the "juicy" category.

So, this is a decent beer. If you're a drinker for burp beers but you'd like to try dipping a toe into Pales/IPAs, this would be a good place to start.

 

Poured into small chalice: color is straw gold, a bit dense or hazy, head is off white with fine to small bubbles and presents 1 inch thick.

Smell is tropical, some cattiness, hints of pineapple, limited malt character.

Taste is more citrusy, still tropical fruit, malt is light and balancing - a big hoppy beer for Straub but well done.

Mouthfeel is pleasantly bitter and carbonated just right, good drying presence on the tongue.

Overall a very good IPA from Straub, definitely there most hoppy brew I've had and they hit the right marks.

 

A - Hazy lemon tan pour with a massive white, rocky layer of white foam.

S - Sharp citrus aroma.

T - Citrus with a slight hit of lemon zest and light citrus rind.

M - Medium body.

O - An easy drinker from Straub.