Kern River Citra DIPA

Brewed by Kern River Brewing
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Kernville, California USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

Citra DIPA pours a cloudy, hazy, deep orange color. A nice two finger head is poured but dies down to what you see in the picture to the right and just sticks there. Lacing all throughout the glass as you enjoy this nectar. Wow is all I had to say to myself when I popped this growler open. I was afraid that maybe the beer lost some of it’s greatness in the trip across the country but hell no. This is one of the best smelling beers I’ve ever had. You get blasted and I mean blasted by fruit. Citrus and other tropical fruits. Pineapple, grapefruit, mango, etc. Just amazing. Luckily there is a small malt backbone here to keep things in check. Doesn’t matter though. The smell is out of this world and it’s full of hops. I want to take a damn bath in this beer. With some beers your all psyched when you have a fantastic smell and then you try that first taste and you’re disappointed. Not here. This beer blew me away. Up front you get blasted once again by hops. Fruity. Just plain citrus and other fruits. Amazing. But the beer also has a rawness to it. A freshness that is hard to explain. The hops are just so pronounced. You can tell this beer was dry hopped a ton. There’s a also a nice bitterness to this brew but it’s not overwhelming. A biscuit like malt background is present but gets blasted by the hops. Mouthfeel was pretty much spot on too. Carbonation was great even after the long trip. Medium bodied and slick.

First off, this beer was enjoyed at an EPIC stout tasting (KtG, BT, BA Speedway, DL, Jackie O’s BA DA, etc...) and this was probably the best beer we had that night. It’s just outrageously delicious. A: Hazy dark citrus orange in color with a nice white bubbly head that fades to a nice layer of foam on the surface. The color makes me want to bathe in it. So beautiful S: This stuff should be sold to beer geeks as a sexual pheromone. The aroma on this is just outrageous! First pop of the cap and the waft of tropical/exotic fruits and hops hits your nose immediately. This is a full on aromatic assault of citrus, mangoes, peaches, grapefruit, pineapple and some resinous hoppy citrus hops. Holy shit this stuff smells like sex in a bottle. T&M : Not surprisingly, the flavor follows the nose almost to a tee. A full on mouthgasm of hoppy citrus flavors, mangoes, peaches, pineapple, orange, and enough malt backbone to perfectly compliment everything. The malt backbone almost has a honey like quality but in no way is sweet like honey. Beautiful. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, yet crisp and amazingly refreshing. This is highly, HIGHLY drinkable. This beer is liquid art. O: I don’t even know what to say. I think the brewer stumbled upon one of the greatest DIPA recipes known to man. Everything about this is damn near perfect in every way. I can’t recommend this highly enough. It’s definitely in my top 5 as of right now.

22oz bottle, no date from Beverages 4 Less for $9.99. Can’t believe I haven’t rated this wonderful beer, from the first time I had it just before the Bistro DIPA fest a couple years ago--must be lost in one of many notebooks somewhere. Medium orange with some golden highlights and a two finger, well-retained off-white head. Passionfruit is up front in the nose with some sweet cotton candy, tinge of alcohol. Digging slightly deeper I get some green dry hopped notes, and some ripe sweet orange. Flavor continues with the tropical fruit and sweet cotton candy hop combo that I enjoy so much, though the hops seem slightly restrained. Pretty moderate sweetness doesn’t seem to be tempered incredibly well by the hops, though there is some effort. The finish is semi-dry with bitterness peaking at a 4-5. I always complain about too much bittering, but I feel this batch could’ve used a touch more with the amount of sweet malt. Full body with light to moderate carbonation. I know my original rating hangs around a 4.4-4.5, so I’m blending the two. Glad Kyle and the gang are still doing kickass beers!

Bottle. Thanks to Secret Santa. Pours hazy golden with a small lasting creamy head and lacings. Orange, lemon and pineapple. Dry and bitter. Slightly oily. Citra no question but also some orange and some other hop. Not sure this is entirely fresh or perhaps it is just the mix of Citra and Amarillo?. Not sweet malty but some caramel and more malty than expected. Tasty nevertheless. Smooth and dry finish.

Bottle; Pour is murky medium gold with a nice, medium bubbled off white head in this glass. Light, spotty lacing is present here. The nose is pungent pine and citrus notes, with a clear modest malt backbone. The flavor profile is bitter pine and grapefruit, sweet caramel malts, but heavy on the bitter notes while adding a touch of cream from the head of this one - I was expecting more depth out of this one - Loved it - but I was expecting more depth. Whoops

Bottle shared by brew3crew. Poured clear copper color with an average frothy off-white head that mostly lasted with excellent lacing. Moderate to heavy spruce citrus hop aroma. Moderate to heavy bitter flavor with a moderate to heavy bittersweet finish of moderate to long duration. Medium to full body with a slick texture and soft carbonation and soft alcohol bite at the finish. Very good brew.

Bottle thanks to Newgeneric from BA. Great body and head. Smells like a wet dream. Amazing. Fresh even after two months. Nice hopiness but not overbearing.

Full citrus nose and flavor, balanced with tart and sweet citrus with a nice malt backbone. Nice dry finish