Review: Boulevard Brewing Space Camper Cosmic IPA


I still remember the first time I ever tried Boulevard Brewing's beer, it was 2010 and it was their Single Wide IPA. Single Wide was a liberally hoppy IPA that hit every note that I wanted in IPA at the time - Hoppy but not disgustingly bitter? Check. Moderate sweetness? Check. Nice citrus notes? Check! Cool label? Check again!  It was briefly available in Manitoba as well.. but it was something like $5.00 for a 355mL bottle when a six-pack at the time was $6.99 US.

Boulevard now has an IPA called Space Camper Cosmic IPA. From the website:"Space Camper Cosmic IPA is an exhilarating initiation into a mind-bending alternate universe of India Pale Ales. Our brewers employ massive hop additions at the end of the boil, and during fermentation, to minimize upfront bitterness and create a juicy IPA bursting with tropical fruit flavors and aromas of nectar and citrus."

With a name like Space Camper, it fits in well with the RV theme of IPAs.. which they should be doing if they aren't already.

Appearance: Pours a mildly cloudy golden orange with a hefty amount of sediment/floaties floating around throughout the beer. The head is quite thick and white but diminishes pretty gradually to leave behind a light amount of lacing on the glass.

Aroma: Notes of pine to give it a bit of bitterness, a bit of alfalfa, a bit of leafiness to it, as well as a mild citrus presence of tangerine, lime and pineapple. Light amount of caramel sweetness also pops out in this beer as well.

Taste: Mildly hoppy with a bit of pine to start it off. The beer is decently juicy but not as much as I was led to believe - it has a fairly mild pineapple and tangerine presence to it. I'm feeling like this can mayyyy be a bit past its prime already because I'm getting that not-so-fresh IPA taste to it but it's still definitely enjoyable. The beer is quite dry and has a bit of an apple aftertaste to it.

Overall Thoughts: Not quite fresh but still enjoyable, but I find the aroma is a bit better than the taste itself as the tropical notes pop out just a bit more there than they do in the tasting. Is this better than Single Wide? I think Single Wide will still be my fave IPA by the brewery, it's a timeless classic. 5.9% ABV

https://www.boulevard.com/space-camper-ipa/

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