Clear with decent head retention, smells of saltines, Cheerios, and grassy hops. The taste is light and a little citrusy with flavors of Ritz crackers, shredded wheat, and a hint of honey on a medium body. The finish is long and moderately bitter, featuring notes of grapefruit peel, grassy hops, and mineral water.
Overall, it’s a “cold IPA” aka an IPL, similar to a California Common; a lager fermented at higher temperatures similar to an ale… I think it’s just silly name made up by some marketing committee. I was honestly tempted to use my pilsner glass here, but ultimately decided if they wanted me to treat this as an ale, I’d judge it as one (and apparently some breweries actually do “cold” ferment ale yeast to make this style, but Sam doesn’t give many details on the bottle, and don’t even have a page for it on their website). Anyway, it’s not the worst beer I’ve ever had by any means, but it just reminds me of a dry hopped pilsner; it has the crisp clean finish of a lager but at least in this example, there’s just not enough malt to back up the hops and the end result comes off as kinda thin and unbalanced.
Best by: February 2023
