A West Coast IPA with Simcoe, Simcoe Cryo, SIM Quantum Brite, Elani and Krush (LUPOMAX) hops.

Recipe for this post can be found here.

Appearance

Pours a light yellow color with chill haze. A solid 1.5” of foamy white head sits on top and leaves copius amounts of lacing as it fades away.

Aroma

Even cold, you can get a strong waft of the aroma from several feet away. The aroma consists predominately of pine, diesel and sweet fruit.

Taste/Mouthfeel

Medium in carbonation. The taste consists of a mix of sappy pine and diesel with just a touch of sweetness from the Vienna malt. The finish has a moderate bitterness with a small amount of sweet fruit. It has a fairly dry finish, but it’s not bone-dry.

Impressions

I personally find this beer very drinkable. It’s not overly sweet and the bitterness helps improve drinkability. This is the first batch that I used Abstrax hops. I had some trouble doing the oxygen free transfer, so only a limited amount of the clarifying agent and Abstrax hops extract made it into the keg. That likely explains the appearance, since it’s been in the keg for a month now. Despite that it’s very flavorful. I need to get the correct size tubing so I can do a better transfer of the Abatrax hops and clarifying agent for the next batch. I’m looking forward to continue experimenting with the Abstrax hops products.