Trail Pass Hazy IPA

The beer

The finish is dry, and the hop there is citrusy. Cannabis and pine have already done their work. What is left is a clean citrus edge that does not sweeten as it leaves.

The nose is why the can is convincing. Dank, terpene-heavy hops, cannabis and pine stacked together, and no juice crowding them. That breath is an IPA breath. It arrives before the malt does, and it is the part that settles the likeness.

In the mouth the beer is crisp. Bitterness is moderate: enough to taste like hops, not enough to scrape. Light malt sits underneath, support rather than a soft center. Carbonation is lively, which keeps the bitterness bright and stops the middle from going slack. The hop still leads. The malt does not argue.

A dank nose, a crisp and moderately bitter palate, a dry citrus close. The likeness holds because the smell already did the convincing, and the rest of the pour does not take it back. Carbonation is the texture that makes the bitterness readable. Without that lively bead the moderate bitter note would sit. With it, the beer stays crisp from the first sip through the dry citrus end.