Moa ‘Festive IPA’ Pine Edition

Rating:

imagePine Edition is a big, bold, hoppy USA style IPA. Hopped with Columbus, Simcoe, Citra, Amarillo and Sorachi-ace, the hop- back jammed with Nelson Sauvin, then dry hopped with Amarillo, Citra, and Sorachi-ace. It’s all about making the American hops shine like a Christmas pine.

Moa are a fine brewery, and we love pine IPAs so this special reserve brew is a real treat. Poured into a tulip glass. There is a massive 3 finger head which retains magnificently to this this thick sudsy cloud of white head that’s at least 2 fingers high! Wow. Burnt orange colour here and nice carbonation on display. Big aromas of toffee malts, pine needle, backbone alcohol, grape fruits, First sip yields classic west coast flavours. Decent bitterness of lemon and grape fruits, some orange peel, strong pine, caramel and toffee malts, a bit of spice on the lips and a hint of background booze burn. This one sits at 6.7% alc vol so we were expecting to taste it somewhere, but as usual with good breweries, it’s nicely blended into the malt profile, and the hops come in over the top. Resin flavours stick to the mouth as we sink it. Mouthfeel is moderate, with good but not overbearing carbonation. The bitterness of the hops certainly sticks out. We don’t get a lot of that vinous, grape like hop from the Sauvin due to the intensity of the citrus and pine. There is big soapy lacing down the glass here too. We like this beer. If it had a bit more body and depth, we would be putting at 9/10 easy. A solid, smooth, piney IPA. Delicious.