HeadFlyer / Wandering Leaf Dr. Green Thumb West Coast IPA

 HeadFlyer / Wandering Leaf Dr. Green Thumb West Coast IPA. 

7% ABV, 77 IBU, HeadFlyer Brewing, Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

Clear, copper colored (strike one! Wrong tone for a West Coast IPA,), slim white head.any

In the nose: do I detect caramel malt? Strike two. Anything else? Some citrus, deep down. 

In the mouth: Not clean and crisp by any means. Bitterness on the palate, but mostly murky and malty. Doesn’t taste a whit likes West Coast IPA. Not dank or resinous, missing the forefront classic West Coast hops

I skimmed Untapped reviews and I appear to be in the minority. Folks are noting the pine, but that hoppy character is swallowed up and covered by the malt. There’s more chocolate here than citrus. West Coast IPAs need to golden hued with bold, brash, highly aromatic hoppiness. This is all wrong. 

There’s copy on the back of the label that I won’t be copying, but let’s just say that this is not “the dankest of IPAs.”  I’m glad I got this for free. I’d be pissed if I’d paid for it.