Billed on the bottle as using 4 types of hops and 3 kinds of malts, and in teeny tiny print, a warning of sorts: this IPA is packing a sweltering 8.2% alcohol. That must be the 2X they’re talking about, because the taste is neither extremely hoppy nor whole-beer malty. Good balance of sweet and pointy hops, even if the latter is not really sharply hopped, is it a little pointy. Can taste the alk underneath the beer, not as dire as some malt liquors on the market, but certainly there.
So with this alk it’s not a great hot-day refreshment, but not bad for a cooler Spring evening when there’s nothing attractive to drive to. Sedate hops, not bright and burning, a slight citrusy hint but more like pine than lemon. OK as a beer, but no reason to buy this as long as Smuttynose is still making Finestkind. My rating of 5.6 takes into account the lower hops and higher brainwreck potential.