Maine Beer Woods & Waters

The Stats
Style: American IPA
ABV: 6.2%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.13/5
- RateBeer: 3.76/5
- Untappd: 4.04/5

"We brewed this special IPA to commemorate the establishment of the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. We incorporated Maine-grown barley and wheat, along with generous amounts of hops with flavors and aromas of pine and citrus, reminiscent of the outdoors. Cheers to Mother Nature and all she provides us!"

Pours a hazy, pale yellow with a hefty, frothy, three fingers of pure white head. It looks like lemonade.

The aroma is earthy and spicy with a very faint bit of grass. I can barely pick up the slightest bit of lemon zest or lemon peel. There's a distinct wheat character and something powdery to this too. Powdery, bready, or doughy malts? I'm not sure, but nothing really explodes out of the glass.

The taste has a bit more flavor than the aroma would lead you to believe. First up is a noticeable bitter presence all throughout, but it still isn't very powerful. Some fruity notes of wild berries and strawberry are detectable, but again, not as forward as I'd like. Lemon zest is back and adds a nice citrus zing. There's an adjunct quality to this, maybe it's from that wheat I picked up earlier, but it lends a certain crispness to the beer.

Mouthfeel is light with plenty of carbonation. As I said before, this has a crisp character and I can see this being refreshing on a nice, Summer's day due to how light it is.

Woods & Waters wasn't offensive in any way, but I am disappointed by how bland it was. While I could pick out some bitterness and fruity hops, the overall taste and aroma was underwhelming without being hard to drink. It is light and crisp, so maybe outside on a hot day might be an ideal match, but it would still be a watered down IPA.

Rating
7.2/10