Knee Deep Continental Drift IPA (w/ Cigar City)

Beer Name: Continental Drift East Coast-Style IPA
Brewery: Knee Deep Brewing Co. (Auburn, CA) in collaboration with Cigar City Brewing (Tampa, FL)
ABV: 7.0%
How sold: 22 oz bottles
Where bought: Craftshack (San Diego, CA)  ****bought online
Price: $8.49 for a 22 oz. bottle

Date Purchased: May 3, 2017
Date Received: May 9, 2017
Date Opened: May 11, 2017
When brewed? Special collaboration with Cigar City Brewing.
IBU: 50

What's on the Bottle: "After brewing a West Coast Style IPA at Cigar City we decided to brew an East Coast Style IPA in California. We used Denali, Eureka, and Lemon Drop hops in this well balanced IPA."

Where distributed: As of May 2017, Knee Deep Brewing ships to several states. They are found in Oregon, but at the time, I could not locate Continental Drift in stores. See if Knee Deep Brewing ships to your area!

REVIEW:

Appearance (5%): Poured clear golden into a pint glass. Frothy white head. Some lacing on the glass. 4.5/5

Smell (25%): Mostly tropical citrus and stone fruit, some lemon. Complementing malt. 4.5/5

Taste (40%): Balanced tropical citrus, some pine and lemon notes. More citrus on the back end. Refreshing, not overwhelming in any way, just the right amount of flavor. Any bitterness is controlled wonderfully. A beer that I could enjoy all day. 4.75/5

Mouthfeel (10%): Medium-bodied; some carbonation. Refreshing. Slightly dry tongue. 4.5/5

Overall (20%): An outstanding IPA. I figured a beer with Knee Deep's and Cigar City's logos on the bottle would produce something worth getting, and damn, they delivered here. Again, Knee Deep really hit the sweet spot when making this East Coast-style IPA. They kept with the pleasing tropical, but it's a balanced attack unlike the more hop-forward West Coast-style IPAs. Very highly recommended, and I hope Knee Deep and Cigar City collaborate on more beers in the future. 4.75/5

Final Weighted Rating: 4.65/5