Judge’s Review: 85 Rating – Speed Merchant by Platform Beer Co.

American IPA | Year-Round | United States

By Rodney A. Tillinghast

Judges Rating: 85
Aroma: 22
Appearance: 4
Flavor: 36
Mouthfeel: 7
Overall Impression: 16

Speed Merchant by Platform Beer Co. is a stylistic offshoot from American IPA’s, a White IPA, which typically features a more prominent wheat component, lending to light, hazy appearances (Specialty IPA, 21B). It offered prominent notes of pineapple, mandarin orange and pine, along with a firm crackery malt component. The brew poured fairly clear orange, with fluffy beige head that stayed entrenched throughout. 
Flavors featured soft, bready malts combined with a fairly firm bitterness. Hop flavor was medium to medium-high, with citrus and earth noticeable. Mouthfeel was medium-dry, with the bitterness lingering at the back of the tongue.  An enjoyable beer, a very approachable IPA, one that was well constructed and firmly grainy and dry. It could have benefited from a touch more hop flavor.