New beer alert: Sweetwater Triple Tail is now available at package stores, supermarkets and bars near you. Sweetwater calls this a “tropical IPA” but it’s more of a pale ale, folks. Sorry. It’s under strength to be an India Pale Ale and lacks the body and depth I want in that style of beer. We’ll call it an American Pale Ale, which si much closer to the mark. You can call it a tropical American Pale Ale if that makes you feel better.

I’ve seen this all over the place in bottles, but I tried it when it showed up on tap at my local Taco Mac. I enjoyed it, and I would drink it again, but I wouldn’t go out of my way for it. I like my IPAs a little meatier. Your mileage may vary.

From the website:

A tropical approach to the IPA style – TripleTail weaves juicy and bodacious hops with notes of papaya, pineapple and passionfruit into this lush hop-forward IPA, creating a mouthwatering vacation for your senses. At 5.5% ABV, you can lean back assured it will refresh from sun up to sun down.

Ingredients from the website:

Grains – 2-Row, Pilsner, Carapils

Bittering Hops – Bravo, Mosaic, Denali

Dry Hops – Mosaic, Denali, Citra, Waimea

They already told you Sweetwater Triple Tail has an alcohol content of 5.5% by volume, but that’s not enough for an IPA in my book. It has 57 IBUs and I paid just $5 for a 23-ounce mug at Taco Mac. Target has it for a bargain price of $7.59 in six-packs.

My mug of Sweetwater Triple Tail IPA arrived a bright orange amber color with a moderate head of foam and tropical mango and pineapple in the nose. Taking a sip, the beer has a thin malty body with bright notes of passion fruit and pineapple and a bitter grassy finish to round it out.

About how these beers go, nothing more, nothing less. If you like them, you’ll enjoy this, but I would want more malt to drink it regularly.

Update 11/5/2017: OK, so a few things happened to make me like Sweetwater Triple Tail a little more. One, it won. A Bronze medal at the 2017 GABF in the American Pale Ale category. That made me think I was a little two hard on it, and maybe I should give it another shot. As fate would have it, the second thing happened before the first, because I had picked up a 32-ounce crowler of the beer at Stout's Growlers on October 5th for $7.75.

Upon reflection, the malt is a little more appropriate to an APA, and I may have been thinking of an IPA. Then too, the beer has more citrus peel 9grapefruit and orange) than I recall. I like it  a lot more. a good reason to always check yourself. On another note, I love crowlers, a month since I bought it and it's fresh as can be. Just keep 'em refrigerated as I did here. Bumping up to 4 stars.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

 

 

 

 



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