Left Coast's Torrey Pines IPA

Ahh Man's Night how I love you. Man's night is so much easier now that the lawyer moved down the street. Middle of the week drunkenness is now not only possible, but safe, and responsible as well. Last week's Man's Night was highlighted by the movie "The Hurt Locker."I know it's up for an Oscar for Best Picture but aside from the visuals(I'd give it a nod for cinematography) the only thing I was impressed with was the size of the soldier's, ahem, cajones. Voluntarily disarming crazy bombs that look like they might blow up if you look at them wrong, let alone touch them, is not my idea of a plum assignment.

So little bro showed up at Man's Night with this beer. I told him to bring something interesting and he delivered. Not that that is unusual, well, ok a little. He had been two for two on fruit beer. I mean, strawberry and blueberry beer? Interesting yes, tasty? Not so much. That's why I was glad when he pulled out this IPA.

Appearance: Hazy copper coming straight out of the bottle but it cleared quickly. HUGE head. I overflowed the glass and I have not done that in a long time. It stayed there for a while too with lots of lacing. I definitely had a foam mustache because I couldn't wait to get into this one, the smell was awesome.

Aroma: Lots of pine, very very woodsy just like a good IPA should be.

Taste: I love bitter, but bitter without balance is just crap in my opinion. Left Coast nailed the balance. This beer was bitter but it didn't give you bitter beer face(Remember those commercials?) Nor does it strip your taste buds like turpentine. There is enough residual malt sugar to tone down the hops but this beer is far from sweet. A light lemon flavor almost reminiscent of a hefeweizen  and it also has that creamy mouthfeel like a good unfiltered hef does.

Overall: Great beer