Run Wild IPA

The beer

Bitterness and juice are the argument here, and Run Wild keeps them in proportion. Approachable bitterness — thirty-five IBU — sits over a subtle, complex malt body instead of drowning in sweet hop candy. Pine resin and citrus peel do the aromatic work: classic Northwest, bright and clean rather than sticky. Citra and Mosaic handle the loud parts of the hop blend, but the pour stays at a session beer’s weight, so the bitterness has room to land without tasting like juice concentrate.

That balance is what cheap nonalcoholic IPAs miss. When the hops lean sweet, the glass turns syrupy; when the malt disappears, bitterness scrapes. Here the malt stays present enough to carry the mid-palate, the hop peel stays bright, and the finish turns dry and crisp — ending clean rather than syrupy. Cold from the can, the pine-and-citrus opening leads straight into that bitter-meets-malt middle, then exits without a sugar trail.

Modest bitterness, bright acidity, a clean finish: the spine is the tension between hop bite and fruit, held at session weight. Pour it cold and drink it while that balance is still sharp.