I realized recently that a lot of the things that I'd been drinking have been aged stuff and might not be readily available not he market and thus downgrade my reviews relevance. So, I decided to focus on an AMAZING IPA today that I recently pulled off the shelf at Trader Joe's actually. The can was fairly pricey at $3.25, but definitely doable and after having drank this already, I have zero regrets.
I got home from work yesterday and wanted something to enhance my palette and my head as I sat down to listen to my grad school class online for the evening. I opened up my beer fridge and pulled this baby out.
Nose was perfect. It was nice and fresh and hoppy smell wasn't too bitter. Slight malt notes came through.
Beginning was great -- it was nice and sweet. Hops were perfect and didn't leave any bitter or floraly finish. Malt notes fit perfectly. Nothing was too dominant. Typically, I find that double and triple IPA's are pretty tough to do considering the stronger malts and alpha acids needed to balance each other.
Drinking atmosphere:
Despite the higher ABV (8.2%), I still think this could be drinkable during the day. Flavor was great and I didn't find it too rich or heavy. I wouldn't think this fits into the "night time" category, although it could.
Overall rating: 8.50/10
I may be a bit generous here, but I really enjoyed this one and think everything on my checklist score sheet were done well. This series in conjunction with "Fortem" is a super good series and they have yet to disappoint. Well done Firestone!
Cheers all. Let me know if you've had it!