Judge's Review: 77 Rating - Strawberry Taffy by Cape May Brewing Co.

Strawberry Taffy by Cape May Brewing Co. in collaboration with Great Notion Brewing is an IPA, but it falls under the BJCP category 21B Specialty IPA due to the use of lactose, sea salt, strawberries and vanilla. This an example of the new ‘milkshake’ style IPA, but it leaves out anything reminiscent of an IPA. Even the appearance doesn’t look the part with an extremely hazy deep golden color with pink undertones that looks like pinkish apple cider. It does however nail the strawberry taffy goal. There’s no hops to the aroma, but it's full of sweet strawberry and vanilla with a light crackery malt. This also comes thru in the flavor with sweet strawberry taffy and characters of strawberries and cream with a graham cracker crumble. It’s a very unique beer, nothing like I’ve ever had before. It’s incredible how well it succeeds in matching the strawberry taffy character, however it is at the expense of the base style with nary a note of hops. I think a better home for this would be under a more malt-forward base such as Blonde Ale (BJCP 18A) as the lack of hops is really what hurts this beer.