One thing that sucks about going through a pandemic for a couple years - seeing one of your fave breweries transform and evolve but not getting to see it happen in person. The first time I ever reviewed a beer by Bières Jukebox was in 2013 with their Distorsion IPA Américaine. A few years later I met Renaud of Jukebox as well as his brewer partner Shawn from Avant-Garde and they very quickly became some of my favourite brewers in the world! I visited Avant-Garde's space prior to COVID but it was just a shell of a brewery then, but when I visited a few months back, it was a full on massive taproom, kitchen and brewery! Today I'm sampling Jukebox Bières Americaine's West Coast IPA. It tops out at 6.3% ABV and is well hopped with Simcoe, Centennial and Columbus hops.
Appearance: Thiccccc AF. Opaque dark orange body with a massive amount of beige head on top. Like all other IPA reviews, the head eventually goes away. Moderate amount of carbonation in the body. Looks 100% on point so far.
Aroma: Heavy on the hops - pine, grapefruit, melon, lemon, and has a slight soap aroma at the end. It's strong enough to tickle the nostrils a good deal. It actually compares well to the European-brewed Lagunitas IPA I've been drinking a lot of but this is more tropical and really tickles the nose.
Taste: Grapefruit, a bit of pepper, pine, leafy hops, lemon, orange peel. Oh, this also has a lot of caramel for malty sweetness. It's got quite a dank aftertaste with a leafy/bitter hop aftertaste. Quite a clean IPA.
Overall Thoughts: Going back 11 years, their IPAs have changed quite a bit - they sure are still very much hop forward, which a lot of people won't like it. But don't be afraid, Jukebox and Avant-Garde have a wide variety of beers for all palates!
Check out my visit to Avant-Garde/Jukebox during construction in 2019!
No comments:
Post a Comment