Westbrook Citrus Ninja Exchange (2011)

Formerly brewed at Westbrook Brewing
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina USA

Serve in Shaker, Snifter

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A Westbrook / CBX / GBX collaboration: single-hopped with Cascade, 50lbs of grapefruit, and dry-hopped 4 times? Yes please. Growler from GBX into a Duvel tulip A: Pours a dark amber orange color with the hop haze, massive creamy cap and excellent retention despite the ~9% abv. This looks like a beast of a beer. S: Big heaping resin notes right off the bat along with orange peel and grapefruit. Definitely west coast in style. The malts help balance the big hop aromas with a little caramel and slight sweetness. The more this decants, the more the citrus comes out. T: Big time bitterness - this is a palate wrecker for sure. Alcohol is well concealed. Huge hop presence consisting of resin, pine, and a solid dose of orange and grapefruit. MF/O: Absolute monster body on this that leaves a sticky resin feel in the mouth. Solid carbonation, resin and orange peel finish. Notes: Well done here! Westbrook has been very impressive in its short lifespan as a brewery and they put out some fantastic stuff, especially the IPAs, and the guys from GBX/CBX are just ballers

Sampled at Husk. Murky burnt tangerine pour with a creamy eggshell head that left a ton of lacing. Bright orange peel, tart grapefruit, lemon zest, and candied citrus in this one. Extremely fragrant. Some peppery spice and touch of evergreen as well. Thick and syrupy, almost chewy body. Dangerously drinkable. Had a few and should have slowed down. Really delicious...glad I had a chance to try it!

Growler… Lightly hazed dirty-orange ale with a small, fizzy, white head. The bouquet delivers a ton of juicy grapefruit intermingled with lesser floral, pine and toasted malt notes. Full-bodied with a velvety mouthfeel and laid-back carbonation. A sturdy, chewy malt backbone supports a massive blast of citrusy lupulin, but doesn’t stand in its way either. No amount of malt could slow this blitzkrieg of a hop bill down, regardless of how high the final gravity. The result is a decently-balanced explosion of grapefruit, pine and floral hop flavor. There’s plenty of bitterness to go along with that flavor, but gobs of caramel and toasted malts do a great job of presenting a palatable hophead experience for me – admittedly, I’m no hophead. Finishes crisp, bitter and then a touch dry. Big time thanks to a very generous ElliesBrown for providing this rare growler!

I’m surprised to see the ABV on this, which didn’t come through in the light semi dry palate on this one, which was a fairly mild citrusy IPA.

Growler! Thanks hopscotch. Light aroma, pine and sweet, quite delicious, nice and balanced. Delicous.

Pours a nice burnt orange color with a finger of white head. Smells quite citrusy, which is very nice. There’s quite a bit of pine to it, maybe a hint of tropical fruit. But mostly it’s grapefruit. There is a noticeable sweetness, though. The flavor is a bit sweeter than I’d like, but there is a really good bitterness and quite a lot of citrus hop flavor. Some pine and a slight herbal hop note as well. Medium bodied with medium carbonation.

growlers. Nose is a bag of fresh hops. Very cloudy & orange. Taste is sweet but very, very bitter. Obvious citrus, but I didn’t know about the actual grapefruit addition until now. So much drinkability but potent & sweet so be careful. Great beer from an amazing team-up.

Growler courtesy of eclayton08, thanks a ton! what a brew! doesnt get much more grapefruit-y than this, exploding at the seams wit sweet and very tart grapefruit notes. thick oily, tingly and spicy, this is some potent and pungent stuff. great pour with tons of sheeting and lacing coving most of the glass.