A triple IPA from my locals but this time brewed on their lockdown lonesome.
Brewery
Track Brewing Co
Name
If Not Today
Style
TIPA
Hops
Mosaic
Strata
Galaxy
ABV
11%
As soon as that serene buttercup can hit Track's IG stories, I knew I was going to have to source a can or two of this!!
'If Not Today' heralds Track's first TIPA of 2021 and having verified with Untappd, I believe only their second solo TIPA since inception (after Meru a good few years back). We have surely all seen, and possibly sampled, their 2 chunky transatlantic collaborative TIPAs of 2020 ('What Could Go Wrong?' and 'Muscle Memory' and if you fancy a nose at my verdict on those click here) so I had every confidence that Track would deliver the goods. So to the silly sauce itself....
The body looked relatively chunky leaving the can with a lovely honeyed amber hue for the eyelets to soak up and a nice inch of frothy head settling amicably for the mandatory photoshoot and then dissipating into the ether shortly after. On the schnozzle, it wasn't the punchiest of nosefeels but I was picking up a light mix of grapefruit, lemon sorbet and passionfruit along with a slightly musty note as if I were rummaging through old drawers at a housclearing. That wasn't of concern as I'm down with a touch of Cash in the Attic so I proceeded to dive in quicker than Neymar in the opposition's penalty box.
In the bazoo, the dominant flavours were orange zest, mandarin and pithy bitterness bringing punchy marmalade vibes but these were supported by an intriguing mix of zingy lemon sherbet, resinous herbal spruce tips and the deftest hint of summer berry. There was also a conspicuous booze heat emanating from this - almost akin to drinking whiskey, as I went to take each swig the ethanol heat flashed across my throat from the air inhaled directly before the soothing liquid followed. This definitely translated on the finish with added warmth and bitterness!!
I thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend picking up a can if you see it on your travels - for me, it doesn't quite hit the highs of Cloudwater's recent TIPA offerings but then again, I generally tend to prefer those slightly sweeter tropical flavoured hazy IPA's and save my Paddington Bear 'Golden Shred' moments for westies!!
Score - 4.5 (a whisker above being a 4.25)
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