South Pacific IPA

South Pacific IPA by pFriem Family Brewers was judged as an American IPA (Style 21A, per the BJCP 2021 Guidelines).

The aroma leads with a pronounced hop character with tropical fruit and resiny qualities. The dominance of the hops is backed with a clean and understated malt aroma. There are no yeast qualities in the nose. The color is straw, almost a pale golden, and a fine white head lines the edge of the glass. This pilsner-like color is somewhat low for the judged style, and an indicator that the focus of this beer is on the hops and hops alone. Speaking of which, the hop flavors are intense with strong citrus qualities, particularly grapefruit rind and pith notes. Some tropical fruit notes are layered beneath the robust citrus flavor and overall intense hop bitterness. A simple malt expression lingers beneath the hops, serving as a vehicle to deliver the intense hops without distraction. The mouthfeel is medium with a good level of carbonation and a hint of alcoholic warmth.

Overall, this is a solid hop-forward IPA that successfully delivers a whopping hop profile with minimal to no distraction. The nearly singular focus on the hops with very little malt expression or complexity is indicative of the current evolution of the American IPA style as solely being vehicles for the delivery of hops, and away from the a format that showcased hops in a malt-forward beer. I note this because the style guidelines, particularly the color expectations for the style, are currently mismatched with brewing trends for “American IPAs.”