It’s a big Saturday here. My Missouri Tigers are taking on UCLA in basketball, and immediately following, the football team takes on Auburn in the SEC championship game. If things work out right, they could be going to the national championship. I’m sitting down for lunch with some pizza, and dug this one out of the beer fridge. My sister brought this one back for me from her trip to Asheville, NC a few months ago.

Location: Poured into a Sam Adams perfect pint glass at my home in Bloomington, IL.

Numbers: 7.2% ABV, 67 IBUs, ~230 Calories

Appearance & Aroma: It’s golden in color and slightly hazy, with a lot of carbonation in it. It has a fluffy, quarter inch thick head that has great retention and lacing. There’s a citrusy-resin hop aroma with a bit of grassiness.

Taste & Feel: The body is surprisingly light for a 7% beer, and is light-medium with a fairly creamy mouth feel. There’s a smooth, sweet, citrusy hop flavor up front, and a citrusy-grassy bitterness that comes in the middle. The bitterness peaks in the finish with a good amount of citrus and resin hop flavors that last for a minute or so in the aftertaste.

Food Pairing: I had this mostly citrusy west coast style IPA with a Chicago style pizza covered in cheese and pepperoni. The spice in the pepperoni and flavor of the cheese contrasted nicely with the citrus and resin hop flavors.

Overall Impression: The thing I liked the most about this beer was its smooth creaminess. It had a very good citrusy hop flavor, but it was the creaminess that made it extremely smooth and very drinkable. Overall, the combination of flavors and creaminess made this a very good beer. I’m not sure if my sister brought me any more beers from this brewery, but I hope so.

My Rating:

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