Founders: All Day IPA (USA: IPA: 4.7% ABV)
Visual: Dark orange gold. Loose white bubbles in a thick head.
Nose: Lemon. Pine cones and resin. Dried apricots. Light sulfur. Pineapple. Orange.
Body: Nicely bitter. Resin. Greenery. Slightly thin texture below. Hops. Light passion fruit. Fluffy hop feel. Lemon builds up over time.
Finish: Bitter clinging hops. Quite dry. Smoke. Popcorn. Lightly floral.
Conclusion: Considering the punch out amazing aroma this thing has, I was expecting more from it. As the cap popped from the bottle I got resin, lemon, pine cones and citrus notes wafting into the air.
I took a good long while just appreciation the aroma before I finally dipped in to sample my first sip, and ,well…It is surprisingly thin behind the hop bitterness. There are soft fruit notes, and definitely a good bitterness but nothing to really sink your teeth into. I know they are going for a session ale, and the flavor does pick up over time, but that doesn’t mean that the beer should be quite so empty early on.
Which reminds me, is it just me or has the abv that counts as a session beer crept up quite dramatically. I remember when anything over 3.9 percent wouldn’t qualify. Maybe I’m getting old.
So not one for a single bottle. The soft fruit becomes more pleasant and present over time but never anything really special. The finish always feels lightly floral and potpourri like. That is a style that doesn’t often sit well with me and here it really doesn’t invite further sips, so it is missing a vital element for a session beer.
I wasn’t expecting a flavor bomb, but other beers have shown that you can do low abv, big flavor and still session well. Dead Pony Club comes to mind.
So, not terrible, but very disappointing for me.
Background: Picked up from Brewdog’s guest beer section, this was one of the first beers I drank on my return to the UK. Not willing to let Japan go quite so quickly though, I drank this while listening to the FLCL OST (no 1) I had brought back from Japan. As a fan, I may have made a squeal of “FLCL!” on finding it in a shop in Kyoto. I am such a geek. Anyway, the beer. I’ve mainly tried Founders Imperial Stouts before this, and they have been high quality, so I was hoping they bring that same talent to more hoppy beers.
