Review: Driftwood Fat Tug India Pale Ale

I love when people bring me new beers to try! My friend Jonny was in town for his sister's wedding, and since I don't usually get to try the micros of Vancouver/Vancouver Island, he brought me some over to try out. One of the beers he was most proud of was Fat Tug IPA. So proud of it that in the week and half since he brought said beer, he's asked me 3x/day if I've drank it yet, and sure enough.. I haven't yet. This time not because I was hoarding it, but because I was just busy!

Fat Tug is one of BC's most highly rated IPAs and Driftwood Brewing is one of the most stellar breweries in not only Vancouver Island, but also BC and Canada.

Fat Tug has an ABV of 7%, a bit stronger than most IPAs but not as strong as most DIPAs, and an IBU of 70, so it's going to be a bitter IPA! Yum yum in my tum!

Appearance: Pours a clear orange/amber. It's almost as if you asked for a pint of an amber ale, it's that orangey. Most IPAs to me are slightly darker or hazier than this, but that doesn't scare me off one bit! Minimal amount of head that quickly diminishes - snow white and laces itself around the glass.

Aroma: Hop loves rejoice - this IPA has a pungent odour of bitter, citrusy hops. There's also a bit of a jello (yes, I said jello) sweet aroma coming through the bottle.. not sure why though. Notes of alfalfa, lemon, some grapefruit, which is just awesomeness in a bottle.

Taste: I didn't know what to expect out of this beer as every IPA has a character that varies from IPA to IPA. This India Pale Ale starts off with a notes of alfalfa/pine and followed by a stinging bitterness from the hops hitting near the back of the mouth. A slight amount of a metallic aftertaste lingering. The taste isn't as sharp as the aroma, but that doesn't bother me as the hops really take control in this beer over the citrus or other notes.

Overall Thoughts: A very tasty IPA but wasn't as wowing to me as I'd expect, it's lacking a bit in the taste profile but when it comes to aroma - it is very inviting. I'm not being biased (Len!) but if I had to choose between this or a Half Pints Humulus Ludicrous, I'd go for the Humulus as it has everything well balanced.

I love a piney/alfalfaesque IPA, but it just seems like this beer is aiming for jam packing hops more than anything into the flavour. At being only 7% ABV, it's a bit more bitter hoppy than comparable IPAs that are around the 6.5% range. I like bitter IPAs, so yeah...

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