Name: Citrus Galaxy
Brewer: The Marc’s & Tony Brewing Co. (Philippines)
Style: New England IPA
ABV: 6%
Review Year: 2019
Tony Sindayen, head brewer of The Marc’s & Tony Brewing Co. (MT Brewing), celebrated his birthday at Spektral Beer Lounge with a keg of his latest hazy beer experiment, the Citrus Galaxy New England India Pale Ale (NEIPA). This NEIPA is brewed with Galaxy hops, mandarin orange, and lemon peels. For the first time, Tony used an interesting yeast strain called, Voss Kveik for fermentation. We will be talking more about this particular yeast strain in our forthcoming feature about the Half Baked Brewing Collective. These are the guys responsible for bringing this strain to the Philippines.
(Read More: Half Baked Chronicles Chapter 1: A Brewmance of Three Parts)
STYLE GUIDELINES
Based on the style guidelines of the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP), the New England IPA is an American IPA with intense fruit flavors and aromas, a soft body, a smooth mouthfeel, and is often opaque with substantial haze. These beers are perceived to be less bitter than the traditional IPAs but are always massively hop-forward. This style is also known for its specific “juicy” character which is attributed to the dry-hopping technique used.
The New England IPA is a modern craft beer style that emerged in the New England region of the United States sometime in 2010 and is often attributed to Heady Topper, a beer brewed by the Vermont-based brewery, The Alchemist. Since then, the New England IPA has become the antithesis of the classic bitter American IPA.
New England IPA can also be referred to as Juicy or Hazy IPA, a style category of the Brewers Association(BA).
TASTING NOTES
Citrus Galaxy comes in a cloudy custard yellow color. Bright pastel-colored beers seem to the trend of Tony’s recent releases. Up front, the beer evokes aromas of orange peel, balanced by some notes of coriander and pineapples. Citrus Galaxy is a medium-bodied beer with a juice-like mouthfeel. Flavors of bitter oranges (dalandan) and pineapple come forward, with a deep vegetal backbone. Mild hop burn is also noted, while some funky fruitiness adds an interesting kick to this beer. A lingering finish of vegetal notes and tarty pineapples give this beer a proper close.
THE VERDICT
Overall, Citrus Galaxy is another noteworthy experiment from Tony. It is a huge flavorful beer but not the kind of NEIPA you would drink all night long. We also think the vegetal notes can be lessened to let more citrus notes surface in this beer.
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