Samuel Adams Wicked Hazy IPA

Samuel Adams Wicked Hazy IPA by The Boston Beer Co. This beer pours a dark gold color with hazy opaque clarity. A copious creamy, white head of small lathery bubbles is sustained throughout the entire beer and leaves a lovely lacing on the glass. This beer has an overall moderately low aroma with a light tropical hop of guava and mango coming to the forefront. Slightly grassy and dank notes are present in the aroma as well as the beer warms. There are no notes of malt or fermentation character on the aroma. On the sip, the tropical of flavors of guava and mango noted in the aroma appear in a medium-low intensity. There are notes of low cantaloupe and pineapple, which appear in the flavor but were not present in the aroma. This beer has a low malt sweetness with a wheaty and oat-like flavor. There is a slightly harsh ethyl alcohol note to this beer that detracts from the overall profile and enjoyability. The balance is even between the malt and the hop bitterness and the aftertaste consists of the noted tropical fruit, cantaloupe and harshness (almost ethyl acetate-like manifesting several seconds after the swallow). This beer has a medium body with medium carbonation. There is a slight creaminess in this beer with a very slight warming alcohol. Overall, a middle-of-the-road NEIPA-style beer, but the slightly harsh alcohol detracts from the full potential of this beer as the harsher alcohol cuts through both hop flavor and enjoyability.