Boulder Bubbly By Nature IPA

 

Boulder Bubbly By Nature IPA. The Bubbly IPA. India Pale Ale. Lively. Tropical. Sunshiney. 

4.5% ABV. Boulder Brewing, Boulder, CO.

From the recent Boulder Variety Pack. Three beers I've had before, and one that is new to me. This one. And the dreadful packaging of their colorless rebranding. Ugh. 

A "Brut IPA", eh? I didn't know anyone was still making them. Thought that this style proved itself unnecessary and an unwanted experiment. Was I wrong? Let's find out.

Crystal clear, pale yellow hue, slim white head. 

In the nose: Crisp, fruity (apples, pear, grape), and a little funky. I'm anticipating something tart and dry appearing on the palate. 

In the mouth: My expectations have been founded. Crisp, clean, slightly tart, and very dry. I'm getting little from hops and wonder why it's even called an IPA. Marketing? Light bodied, effervescent. Minor hop bitterness, if any. Brisk and a little refreshing. 

I certainly don't taste anything close to an IPA. While I can certainly drink it, it's not the sort of thing that I enjoy. 

Tropical and juicy like an IPA, sunshiny like a lager, yet lively and bright like a hard seltzer. This curious intersection of brewing techniques creates its own naturally bubbly style.

I'm thinking that whoever wrote that had a different beer than I did. Not tropical or juicy in the least. And are those really the attributes of an IPA, or just the hazy style? I'm glad they still make Mojo. A pity there were only three in the box. Got one more of these left. Alas.