Romantic Chemistry

Fruit-flavored IPAs have come to the forefront of the IPA craft movement lately, fueled by the sweeping success of beers like Ballast Point’s Grapefruit Sculpin. Today’s sample featured mango, apricot and ginger, so I was eager to dive into this ale.

It poured a lovely dark orange and was absolutely clear. A thick “vanilla ice-cream” frothy head came forth, which stayed firmly in place over the entire tasting session. After letting it settle down for a few minutes, I perceived a pleasant aromatic mix of mango, pineapple, grass and ginger. However, beyond that grassy note, there was no discernable hop aroma in the brew.  

The flavor was remarkably fruity, with a slight underlying funkiness. I would have wished for a more aggressive bitterness, which would have tempered some of the candy-like sweetness exhibited in the beer. The mouthful was fairly full, though I would have preferred some dryness to the finish.

Overall, this is a pretty sweet IPA, with some sourness mixed in with the candy-like sweetness. One is left with a residual sweetness on the tongue, which seems to be out of style. For those who prefer their IPAs on the sweeter side, this may be just the ticket for you.