Beer Review: Sir Citra-Ness

This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

Wibby Brewing
Sir Citra-Ness
IPL
7% ABV
55 IBU
From A Can
3.5/5.0 Cold (Remember a 2.0/5.0 is a good beer on this scale. For the schleps on UnTapped probably a ~4.2)
3.0/5.0 Room Temp

Sir Citra-Ness is not shy about how it is hoppy. Starts out with the floral and spicy flavors from hops and moves onto the bitter from the hops. Almost like cloves are spicy, not spicy like chilies.

I also want to clarify that these are full flavors, not "notes," that are throughout each sip carrying your taste buds on a complex journey that changes slightly sip to sip (more on the changes later).

What's more impressive is that the lads at Wibby manage these full flavors from the hops without dragging in the woody parts into the beer or committing the American Brewers sin of "Hops Abuse."

What's more, the bitterness affects the mouthfeel of the beer. It creates a perceived roughness on the tongue, that I really enjoy, that usually requires heavy carbonation. And because it's not heavily carbonated Sir Citra-ness lacks the harshness on the rest of the mouth.

Now back to that evolving flavor profile I mentioned. This entire paragraph regards what the flavors are doing from the middle of the sip to how this IPL lingers.
Sip #1: Spices from the hops still dominant
Sip #2: Citrus notes start to poke through. Maybe they're grapefruit, maybe its orange peel, but something is there.
Sip #3: Flavors that I associate with a sweeter strain of grapefruit start to come through.
Drinking this beer is a 30-second journey every sip. Then at the end, there's this elusive little bit in how this beer finishes. It doesn't taste like cantaloupe, but it reminds me of how my mouth feels after eating a single piece of cantaloupe. I'm going to apologize because I lack the vocabulary to describe this whisper at the end more succinctly.

Over all a good beer. And like all good beers that would have been shipped from Europe to tropical Asia in the days of yore, this beer is still pretty good warm. My hats off to the brewers on this one, it has been a while since a beer made me think this much about its complexities.

Beer Review Scale:

0/5 Not fit for man nor beast

0.5/5 Have I wronged you somehow that you would offer this to me?

1/5 Not enjoyable

2/5 Drinkable (The base line.  Where one does not cringe upon tasting it)

3/5 A decent beverage.

4/5 A very good beverage that I am willing to spend my money to drink.

4.5/5 Sweet nectar

5/5 …