Review: Twin Sails Good Clean Fun West Coast IPA

Thanks to bdgordonatlarge for bringing me a bunch of awesome beers back from Quality Beer Store in Winnipeg a few weeks back. He picked up a trio of beers from Twin Sails Brewing even though I had the pleasure of visiting the brewery while I was in BC back in January (See visit here).

Today's sampling is Twin Sails' Good Clean Fun West Coast IPA. Good Clean Fun tops out at 6.4% ABV and on the website, it describes it as: "A crisp clean malt bill sets the stage for Simcoe, Chinook, and Cascade hops to shine. Expect big flavours of citrus, resinous pine and tropical fruit backed by an assertive snappy bitterness. Dry on the palate, yet displaying a full and rounded mouthfeel, this beer showcases a different side of IPA for us."

Appearance: Pours a bright golden amber body with a light cloudiness to it but some clarity to it.. something if pubs were open right now for sampling beers, this is the kind of appearance of an IPA I always like seeing. The beer has light amount of carbonation for the most part of the body but immediately below the head there's a surprising amount of micro carbonation popping up to the top. The head is fairly light with a snow white appearance to it. Initially, it's a whole finger's worth of head but quickly diminishes to a very light amount of bubbles that are mostly clinging to the side of the glass and a sprinkling of lacing on the side.

Aroma: Have I stated lately how happy I am to see West Coast-style IPAs back in popularity? Well, I am. The first sniff I get has a floral, sweet, tropical and grassy presence to it.. the hops are the show for this beer. There's notes of pineapple in this beer, lemon, a hint of pepper, a light to mild amount of grapefruit, piney bitterness, and a bit of a grassy hop presence as well. Smidge of caramel in this beer as well.

Taste: Piney bitterness up front, followed by a sweetness that tingles the palate immediately after - it has a hint of caramel, a nutty maltiness, a hint of pineapple, lemon and grapefruit. A bit of a grassy hop flavour pops up at the end. The mouthfeel is quite dry and leaves behind a bitter pine aftertaste and a hint of grain.

Overall Thoughts: The aroma pops out more than the flavour unfortunately, the aroma is absolutely nice but the taste.. while still great, I was hoping for a bit more of a citrus zest to pop out. I am someone who prefers bitter-forward IPAs over juicy/hazy IPAs so this definitely isn't bad, I just think I'm too accustomed to overly sweet and juicy IPAs now days. This is definitely reminiscent of the West Coast IPAs I've had in recent memory, but just a tad less sweet.