Wicked good* or wicked evil? If you were described on Santa’s list as wicked you would be expecting the old “coal” shoulder from St. Nick. But these days you can’t be too sure what even the most obvious adjectives really mean. Sawdust City tells us that this beer is almost as wicked as we are, almost. So is it almost as wicked awesome as we are or almost was wicked evil as we are? Either way we are hoping to be impressed.
As an aside we have reviewed a few “wicked” brews in the past. Wicked Awesome wasn’t and Wicked Easy was too easy. We wonder which wicked will show up today.
This isn’t just a West Coast IPA, it is a SMaSH West Coast IPA. SMaSH is an acronym for Single Malt and Single Hop and Sawdust has used only Vista hops and Raven Floor Malt in what they call “an experimental brew done in the name of science.” Creating wicked humans in the name of science sounds like the plot from Frankenstein.** That doesn’t sound promising.
This experiment pours into my beaker a little hazy and witches’ cauldron bubbly. The first aroma is fresh and hoppy but second sniff brought out some from the floor funky malt? What the hay? Even the aroma is complex. The first swig had bitters upfront with citrus fruit coming into play in the middle and a mild fruit finish. This brew is bass akwards. How did they do that? As it continues to evolve the bitters are backing off to leave a nice fruit basket. Now its fruit and funky malt, complex and interesting. Naughty or nice? An enjoyable IPA that keeps you on your toes. I vote for nice.
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