Bridge Road “NEeD #2′ West Coast IPA

Rating:

“The second beer in our new bi-monthly IPA series is a nod to the old school, with a Bridge Road twist. A luminous copper colour in the glass, the aromas are of pineapple, citrus + pine. Some grapefruit earthiness on the palate, makes way for a firm lingering bitterness and a hint of malt sweetness on the finish. It’s lean, mean, dank and ready to be drank.”

Glassware: IPA.

Appearance: Bold amber with practically 100% clarity. It forms a sturdy two finger head that maintains its shape nicely. Healthy lace as we go.

Aroma: Jeez this has top shelf old skool west coast IPA written all over it. The first whiff yields dank piney resins and weed, mixed tropical fruits like pineapple, lychee, passionfruit and melon, earthy orange citrus and ruby grapefruit, florals/blossom herbals and a kinda spicy and stewy note which reminds us of the IPA’s of yesteryear. Tight AF!

Flavour: Dead set spot on. Aggressive yet well tempered. It comes on with all of that dank, resiny goodness, pine and weedy herbals then in to the pithy citrus and rind. We noticed this on the nose and were too caught up in the hop profile but it has an excellent caramel malt base which fills it out nicely. Tropical fruits tailing in late before a sharp, piney and herbaceous finish.

Mouthfeel: Chewy initially then it completely dries out post swallow. Medium body, IBU would have to sit around the 60 mark. Low-moderate CO2. 6.9% ABV reveals itself here and there.

Overall: This would have to be the best beer to come out of Bridge Road for years! It’s pin point for the style…big and aggressive yet well balanced and palatable. Kudos to the brewing team for this one. Superb.