Review: Howe Sound Super Jupiter Grapefruit IPA

Another beer out of the old trade hoard! Howe Sound's Super Jupiter Grapefruit IPA is a dry hopped grapefruit flavoured India Pale Ale released just in time for spring, when the birds come back out, the flowers bloom, and people get out of their hibernation and bitch about how warm it is outside.

Appearance: Pours a cherry wood reddish brown, very hazy, unfiltered goodness, decent amount of beige cream head for foam lacing the side of the glass and the top of the beer. It comes in a big 1 litre swift top jug, so this is a beer meant to be shared with others, and possibly saved if you can't finish it all off, but once you open that IPA, you might as well get friends to try to help you finish it off.

Aroma: Notes of floral alfalfaesque hops, slight lemon citrusy aroma, bready maltiness, a slight amount of skunk to it that reminds me of Heineken - but nowhere as skunky as a Heineken, of course. Some pine, but I'm not noticing the sweet/bitterness of the grapefruit coming out yet.

Taste: Pine hops is first and foremost, a very bitterness focused IPA, which is what you should expect from West Coast brewers. A bit of a caramel sweetness backing the pine, slight amount of lemon citrus. The grapefruit theme takes centre stage on the label and naming, but it's honestly not all that there. There's hints of grapefruit popping up once in a while, but nowhere as near grapefruity as say.. Red Racer ESB. Bit disappointing that the beer fails to live up to the grapefruit expectations, but that being said - this is a very solid West Coast IPA - focuses on the bitterness of the hops, followed by a mellow citrusness, easy to drink for any IPA hopaddict out there.

Overall Thoughts: I'm a big fan of Howe Sound Brewing, they're a very underrated brewery and their social media peeps (@howesoundbeer on twitter) are always a delight to chat with! Unfortunately, with the entire theme of this beer being about grapefruits, it fails to live up to the grapefruit bomb of a beer... but hey.. grapefruits are one of my most despised fruits, I hate them, so I'm not disappointed in this beer as it still turned out to be a decently piney IPA with a bitterness that lingers long after you are done drinking it, plus the 1L jug is meant for sharing. 6.8% ABV

If you're ever in Squamish, BC, check out their pub! www.howesound.com/