Review: Revelation West Coast Revelation IPA

The first time I ever heard of Revelation Ale Works out of Hallock, MN was when some peeps from Winnipeg were heading to Minneapolis and stopping there along the way, raving about the beer. Since then, it has made its way to the Quality Beer Store in Winnipeg, as well as took part of last year's Flatlanders Beer Festival. Even with the border being closed, Revelation's beer is (thankfully) still available at Quality Beer Store as they make some real nice treats.

Their West Coast Revelation IPA is well, a West Coast-style IPA brewed with Citra, Simcoe and Cascade Hops. 6.8% ABV. It's rare for me to find a West Coast IPA but it's a style I still get excited about, as if it's still 2013 or something.

Appearance: Bit of an amber/gold body to it, not quite clear but not cloudy either. The head is moderate with a beige-cream appearance to it - mostly a bit of a filmy presence to it but also has a sprinkling of foam on the glass.

Aroma: I think I'll like this but many won't - It's quite hop-forward. The first thing I get from the beer is a nice heavy pine aroma to it, followed by a good amount of lemon, grapefruit, some dankness, a hint of pineapple and a bit of a woodiness at the end. Fairly sweet with a caramel malt presence to it.

Taste: The taste is pretty much what I just got from the aroma - it's quite a dank IPA, incredibly bitter-forward with notes of pine and wood, a mild citrusiness to itm, as well as a hint of pineapple and caramel for sweetness. The floral/bitter notes are predominant in this beer but the more this beer gets devoured, the more I get the sweet/tropical notes to it.

Overall Thoughts: As a fan of bitter and floral IPAs, this is meant for someone like me, but not for someone who doesn't like bitter IPAs. It's bitter, dank, a bit woody and definitely has some tropical presence that you get in a classic West Coast IPA. Smooth to someone like me but likely would cause a bit of gagging for someone who wants a more tropical juice-forward IPA.