A dry-hopped IPA from the Westernlands, says so right on the bottle, where it also says that they make this stuff in Memphis Tennessee, which is not even on the West Coast of the Mississippi River. At any rate, they also make it (or have it made for them) in Washington State and Portland Oregon, so that’s more towards the West Coast.
“Dry hopped” means they use hops when making the wort, but then use dry hops after it’s finished brewing to get some fresh vegetable influences in there. Not certain, but i suspect that’s what people mean when they say “West Coast style IPA.”
The color on this one is quite pale, the effervescence light, the aroma in and out of the bottle is like the label says: piney and citrusy. 6.2% alk completes the particulars, now how does it taste? Pretty light, that’s how. The beer body is not very aggressive in the whole taste, it’s barely there behind two hop flavors: the sharp pine late-taste and tongue-tip bitter orange.
Not a terrible beer at all, but it seems like what Red Hook is trying to do… someone else figured it out better since then. I prefer heavy body, and a sweeter body brings out weird fruits from the hops. This one doesn’t have enough body to begin, let alone be sweet. On the other side of the equation, the hops are strong but without a body to cradle them, they’re just out there, bittering in the wind.
Tasty but there are betterments to be had at this price point. Rating 5.4 for being hoppy but not show-stoppy.