Lake Monster Buddy Check Session IPA

Lake Monster Buddy Check Session IPA. Lake Monster Brewing, St. Paul, MN.

Clear, crimson-colored, lush, creamy, off-white head, leaving lace.

In the nose: sweet and fruity at first, then bitterness butts in and stays for the ride. Whiff of tangerine, lime, grapefruit.

In the mouth: Bitterness is bigger on the palate. Slightly astringent, much malt, big fruit, ripe and tasty. This is quite a different take on the “session IPA”, tasting like a good ol’ regular IPA. What’s the ABV? Can’t find it anywhere. (I found 4.5% and 45 IBU on Untappd. The same on BA and rate beer. Nothing on their website, though. Weird.)

Let’s read this label: “Our highly hopped American IPA is brewed for robust flavor and aroma in an easy drinking package—perfect for a session with your buddy.”

Here’s why it’s surprising as a “session IPA”. They’re not normally “robust”, don’t often have the strong malt content of this one, and is far more flavor than the average session IPA, whatever the hell that is. Go out and drink this one. Good beer and you can do that.