We’re on our way to the final stop on the Tales, Taverns & Towns tour of Chicago. We ran out of beer on the trolley bus after our second stop, and Liz, our guide, picked up some more craft beers. I’ll admit, I hadn’t heard of Spiteful Brewing before, and saw they were another Chicago brewery, so I thought I’d give this one a try. I thought the can art was pretty cool, but as I’ve learned, that doesn’t always mean the beer inside is good.

Location: Enjoyed this canned craft beer on the Tales, Taverns & Towns tour trolley bus in Chicago, IL.

Numbers: 6.2% ABV, ~180 Calories

Appearance & Aroma: I didn’t have anything to pour this in, so I couldn’t tell, but when I looked in the can, it appeared to be dark gold-amber in color with a fluffy white head that seemed to have good retention as I drank it. The aroma was citrusy with a grapefruity hop smell.

Taste & Feel: The body was solidly medium and the mouthfeel was smooth and somewhat creamy. The flavor up front was a balance of honey-sweet maltiness and citrusy, grapefruit-like hoppiness. In the middle, the citrusy hop flavors took over, with both grapefruit and some tropical pineapple-like flavors. The finish is a good balance of citrusy-tropical hop flavor and bitterness that lingers for a bit in the aftertaste.

Food Pairing: This beer has a lot of citrus and tropical hop flavors, and I think they would definitely compliment a mango salsa on chicken or barbacoa.

Overall Impression: I enjoyed the mix of hop flavors in this beer, and thought they were a bit unique, with the tropical and citrusy flavors. It had a good balance of hop flavor and bitterness, along with some honey-like maltiness up front. Overall, it was a pretty good IPA, and it certainly made me want to find out more about this brewery and try more of their beers.

My Rating:

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