Wander Back Beerworks Perfectly Cromulent IPA
What the brewers say
Perfectly Cromulent IPA is brewed with 100% locally grown and malted Rabbit Hill Farms Pilsner and Wheat malts with a single decoction, hopped with Motueka and Citra hops, fermented on the cooler side for IPAs, and generously dry hopped.
What our panel thought
Moderate soft fruity hops aromas of peach and nectar. Sweaty and dank hop notes in the nose carry through into the flavor with a pleasant but light malt body to support them. Fully ripe fruit flesh notes abound. Tastes of guava on a soft bed of light white bread and mildly spicy wheat with a spritz of lemon. Somewhat basic hop flavor—not very complex or layered—seems to be somewhat muted. The slightly chalky mouthfeel seems to further accentuate the bitterness but also helps keep the finish somewhat crisp until the residual hop bitterness slowly reemerges and pleasantly blankets the palate with resin. Finish is lighty sweet but still dry.
What our editors thought
Sweaty and sweet hop notes in the aroma, with big mango and guava over some minerally tinged sulfur and locker room funk. The flavor pushes lean more than sweet and hazy, with strong attenuation and a light herbal-tropical bitterness that evenly matches the very light malt in the body. But the end result is a bit of no-man's-land, between the crisply defined drinkability of west coast IPA, and more indulgent fruitiness of today's hazies.