Certified Organic I.P.A.
12 ounce bottle purchased at the North Coast Co-op in Arcata, California. Pours a brilliant, translucent amber. An inch of light brown head takes its time rising and falls leaving a pasty collar of lace around the glass. The nose is a spicy-sweet malt and hop doublet that I can't imagine balanced with more precision. Not overwhelming, but zen-like in it's steady thrust. At first it's like a handful of warm, spiced raisins, and then the citrusy hops slice it straight in half and there the smell holds -- excellent. Taste opens much like the nose, with a dark fruity sweetness sprinkled with some spice (anything peppery, biting), and with no time to waste the hop bitterness slices in. Aftertaste is a mouth puckering coil of (prominently) hop bitterness with a sturdy seat of malt sweetness wrapped beneath it and curling up on the sides. Alcohol slightly prominent, itching my sinuses. A step below creamy mouthfeel (just right to me) and nicely carbonated. A very pleasing and, in my book anyway, high-ranking -- and underrated -- west coast IPA.