Review: Collective Arts Radio the Mothership Imperial IPA


The first time I ever heard of Collective Arts' Radio the Mothership Imperial IPA was last summer when a friend of mine was visiting Australia, showing off the prices of beer in the country. Out of all the beers that I saw in the photo, the only thing that popped out at me was that Collective Arts was in Australia! I saw one of their sours and Radio the Mothership in the photo. The thing was.. the prices were so crazy expensive that I would never justify spending that kind of money on a single can of beer. It was something like $12.99 AUD ($12.50ish CAD) for ONE can of Radio the Mothership. Nooo thanks. That said, I found out that Quality Inn Beer Store is now carrying it in Winnipeg and the price was under $5.00 per can, so I had to buy it.

Radio the Mothership is an Imperial IPA at 8.5% ABV and described as fruity with bitter hops, berry, mango, peach and a wonderful interplay between the earthy bitterness, the nuanced fruity berry character and the piney funky tropical depth.

Appearance: Pours a deep and hazy dark orange body with a thick amount of off-white head on top. While the head is pretty hefty at the beginning, it gradually diminishes to a bit of a frothiness and a good amount of lacing on the side of the glass.

Aroma: I'm finding that this is more of an oldschool IIPA than a new era one as I'm getting the hops first and foremost from this beer. It has a hefty dosage of piney hops to it, followed by a bit of a soapiness to it, a bit of caramel maltiness and some mild tropical fruitiness to it.. such as mango, orange peel and a hint of grapefruit. So far, more bitter than sweet.

Taste: This time around, I'm getting more of the tropical notes rather than the bitter piney notes.  There's a good deal of tropical fruitiness in here, such as mango, orange peel, a bit of lemon and a bit of grapefruit spiciness. There definitely is a hefty bitter pine presence in this beer as my tongue is now coated in it. The more I drink it, the more I'm noticing how bitter this rather than tropical.. which isn't a bad thing but it just came out as no surprise. That's about it.

Overall Thoughts: Not a bad IIPA, actually pretty on par to what I'd expect from a typical IIPA really, though I do find most IIPAs are definitely more malt-forward than this, but as a hop head, I don't mind it. One thing though, it's a tad past its prime as it was packaged back in September. Seeing that the beer is that old, it actually held up pretty well. Hefty amount of hops with a moderate amount of tropical fruitiness in it. At 8.5% ABV, it's definitely a beer that creeps on you. Brewed . with Citra, Mosaic and Simcoe hops.

https://collectiveartsbrewing.com/series-category/series-9/

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