Cloudwater: DIPA Citra Cryo (England: IIPA: 8.5% ABV)
Visual: Hazy apricot. Large off white head.
Nose: Dry peach. Apples. Hop oil sheen. Apricot. Hop prickle. Slight yeast funk to fresh brown bread.
Body: Apricot. Vanilla custard. Thick. White grapes. Hop oils feel. Candy floss. Apple pie. Raspberry popping candy. Sour dough.
Finish: Blueberry. Apples. Grapes. Vanilla. Fudge. Hop oils and bitterness. Tangerine. Apple pie. Hop prickle grows over time. Clean sheen. Dried apricot. Nettles and moss. Dried pineapple.
Conclusion: I’ve been trying a few Cloudwater beers recently, with mixed results. Some have been great. Some have been rough as a badger’s arsehole. So, which is this? Great? Arsehole? Great arsehole?
First impressions are positive. Thick, slightly hop oils in feel but with low backing bitterness. Very good in mouthfeel enhanced by a light hop prickle, but generally dominated by a heavy, creamy feeling, body.
Ok, wait, hold on, I skipped past the aroma and went straight into the main body. Well mainly because the aroma isn’t the most notable element here. It is there, but more as something to lead you in. The first sip feels like the real first impressions, with everything else just to get you to that point. The aroma is still thick – slight muggy dried fruit, slight oily character, slight hop prickle – but overall slightly closed, but in a way that promises more, so you go to that first sip quickly.
The bitterness is low but present with the hops showing more as a prickly, then oily character, to make sure that this is recognisable as an IPA. Also it is massively fruity from the hops, but that element deserves a paragraph by itself.
So, the fruitiness of the hops. First up, the expected notes from Citra are there – lots of those apple notes that the hop does so well. Lots of sweet apricot and peach that is so common with American hopped beers. Over the time it takes you to drink it other notes come out though. Much less expected notes. From blueberry, tangerine to grapes and more, all showing their face and adding to the flavor profile. Behind that is a savoury thick character which gives a real weight to the beer, something that I’m guessing is the Simcoe influence.
It’s got some sweet raspberry hard candy, popping candy and vanilla custard notes against that – sweet notes pricking through in the midst of the oily, savoury base. They tend to be submerged under the huge fruitiness, but show through in patches – they seem a tad artificial in feel but generally give a nice bit of pep in the middle of the beer. It reminds me a bit of the sweetness in the Raspberry Doughnut beer from Northern Monks, but with a very different backing to the sweetness.
So yeah, this is Cloudwater when they land it good. A swing and a hit.
Background: Ok, one, for a beer called Citra Cryo I was kind of expecting it to only be hopped with Cita. I was wrong, they also use Centennial and Simcoe. Guess the Cryo hops are thing they wanted to boast about though. Don’t know what Cryo hops are? Don’t worry I googled it and I’m still confused. Something, something low temperatures. Something, something hop dust. Something some less off flavours. Anyway, feck it, proof of the pudding is in the eating – or drinking in this case. Let’s see what the new hops do in the real world. This was grabbed from Independent Spirit, drunk chilled as the heat wave finally broke with a lovely rain storm, with background music of the awesome Garbage self titled album. Still holds up as guitar led indie pop from the 90s. I don’t care if it makes me old, that album is great.
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