Tonight is my monthly homebrewers club meeting, and I had a half hour or so to grab some dinner beforehand. Regular readers will see that I love Flinger’s Pizza Pub for their pizza and craft beers on tap, and conveniently, it’s right down the street from Fat Jack’s, our meeting place. Since I was on my own, I had their tomato basil rolls – which were excellent – and this beer.
Location: On tap and served in a regular pint glass at Flinger’s Pizza Pub in Bloomington, IL.
Numbers: 7.3% ABV, 95 IBUs, 220 Calories
Appearance & Aroma: It’s dark amber-copper colored and very clear with a thin, creamy head on it, which left some lacing on the glass. It had an obvious citrusy hop aroma with hints of grassiness.
Taste & Feel: The body was medium and the mouthfeel was fairly smooth with a bit of crispness. There was a toasty caramel malt flavor detectable for a brief second before the hoppiness really kicked in during the middle. There was a good amount of citrus hop flavors, with some pine and grassy flavors in the background. The flavors grew, accompanied by a decent amount of bitterness – but not over the top – in the finish, and lasted for a few minutes in the aftertaste.
Food Pairing: This is a fairly hoppy beer with a good amount of hop flavor, which ranged from piney-grassy to citrus. It went perfectly with my tomato-basil rolls, as the breadiness brought out some of the maltiness, and knocked down some of the bitterness. The hop flavors mixed nicely with the tomato and basil spices, along with the cheesiness of it all.
Overall Impression: Usually, when I think of West Coast IPAs, I think of over-the-top citrusy hop bombs that pull out a lot of lemon-orange, grapefruit, and pineapple-like citrus hop flavors. However, this was a smooth, very drinkable IPA with the Columbus and Cascade-like citrusy flavors I enjoy. Overall, I found it very drinkable and enjoyable, and a good example of a mainline west-coast IPA.
My Rating: 
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