Judge's Review: 82 Rating - Trail Guide IPA by Big Boss Brewing Co.

Trail Guide IPA by Big Boss Brewing Co. is being evaluated as an American IPA (Category 21A) per the 2015 BJCP guildelines. The brewery notes this as a “West Coast” IPA.

This beer pours a gold color with clear clarity. A moderate white head quickly fades leaving a thing ring around the glass and a thin lacing on the surface of the beer. A moderate West Coast style dankness was present for a short time after the pour in the aroma but quickly dissipated leaving a rather neutral character. There is a low grassy, dry-hop like character in this beer. There is a light grainy character from the malt along with a very low malt sweetness. This beer is cleanly fermented with no esters present. This beer has a medium-low sweetness with a very low grainy flavor from the malt. There is medium bitterness with a low herbal and grassy taste which lingers into the finish. This beer balances towards the bitter. This beer is medium body with medium carbonation with no astringency or alcohol apparent. Overall, this is beer falls short of the stylistic hallmarks of better examples of the style; quickly fleeting hop flavor and aroma and the malt intensity being too close in relation to the hop bitterness is not on par with better examples.