Green Flash West Coast IPA Review

Name: Green Flash West Coast IPA
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 8.1%
IBUs: 95

I've been taking a look at beers from breweries that I haven't looked at for a while as of late. For this review, I'm looking at West Coast IPA from Green Flash Brewing. The last time I reviewed anything from Green Flash, they had a different style of branding so this is something that is pretty new to me.

Looking at the label itself, West Coast IPA talks about how Green Flash is a pioneer in giving rise in prominence of the West Coast IPA-style itself. It even displays the types of hops used in the brewing process. It also come as no shock that Green Flash specializes mostly in IPA & Pale Ale styles.

Appearance - A fairly hazy dark orange color with a fair amount of haze and a moderate amount of visible carbonation. There isn't really too much of a head save for a thin film and the lacing is rather sparse.

Aroma - Sweet mango fruitiness and rich citrus hoppiness. Some caramel maltiness in here as well, with some musty and piney hoppiness tucked away in the back.

Taste - Bitter hoppiness in the very front with some citrus and floral hops. On the back end of the palate is a mixture of caramel malts and piney hops. The aftertaste consists mainly of bitter hoppiness and caramel malts.

This is more on the bitter side when it comes to the actual West Coast-style as far as IPAs are concerned. Also it doesn't do anything terribly new when it comes to the Imperial IPA style. With that said, it's still an excellent Imperial IPA and I believe it's worth checking out should you find it on store shelves.

Green Flash West Coast IPA - 8.5/10

Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale Review

Name: Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
Style: India Pale Ale
ABV: 6.8%

Every winter, Sierra Nevada Brewing likes to get in the holiday spirit by releasing Celebration Ale, their winter seasonal IPA. As you can see in the picture above, it depicts a cottage covered by snow, which is ironic considering that the brewery's location does not get any snow at all.

As I mentioned in my previous review, not every winter release is necessarily a darker/heavier beer and this certainly isn't a darker beer by any means. In fact, it's one of the most highly anticipated widespread winter releases I have ever seen around here.

Celebration Ale pours a hazy orange-brown color with a fairly thin foamy head. The lacing left behind is quite good and the carbonation takes on more of a mild appearance.

The nose starts out as fairly caramel malt forward followed up with some hefe-clove notes, citrus & piney hops and a slight yeastiness.

Likewise, the flavor is also fairly malty with stronger hefe-cloves, spiciness, citrus hops, and yeasts with a bittersweet piney-resin aftertaste. Highly unusual to see cloves in an IPA, but it works pretty well.

The body is pretty light and the carbonation comes off as more moderate than what it's mild appearance lets you believe.

Some beer drinkers may not like the cloviness in this beer, but I feel it helps give a wintery feel to the IPA style without making it too different. Overall I found this to be a very enjoyable IPA and worth checking out if you're in need of a good seasonal IPA.

Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale - 8.5/10

Surly Overrated West Coast IPA Review

Name: Surly Overrated West Coast IPA
Style: India Pale Ale
ABV: 7.3%

Today is the first day that Surly Overrated, A West-Coast Style IPA, is available for everyone to buy. I've decided to review this beer because....C'mon, it's Surly. Now for those who do not live in Minnesota, Surly Brewing is a very big deal in terms of craft beer, particularly here in Minnesota. To put it into perspective for you: California has Russian River, Indiana has 3 Floyd's, Colorado has Great Divide, Michigan has Bell's, & Minnesota has Surly. So my weapon of choice today will be Surly Overrated West Coast IPA.

To start off, Overrated pours a dark but clear orange color. There's a moderate amount of carbonation activity and on top of that, it leaves behind a very abundant amount of lacing.

The smell has some strong citrus, grapefruit and piney hop notes. Interesting to note that I'm not getting much of a malty backbone to this one.

Flavor has some fairly sweet citrus & piney hop notes, along with a slight maltiness to the flavor. It also has sort of a "wet hop" characteristic to it, but that could be because it was canned literally 5 days before this review.

The body itself comes off as a bit hefty and the carbonation is fairly moderate. This isn't a beer that is meant to be chugged down all in 1-2 settings.

All and all, it's a great IPA. It's a bit like their Furious but with a more sweeter citrus characteristic to their flavor . Not sure how long it'll be on the shelves for, but here's hoping this becomes a regular line up in terms of seasonal offerings from Surly.

Surly Overrated West Coast IPA -  9/10