Review: Wicked Weed Strawberry Kiwi Burst and Dr. Dank Mango Wowie
We continue to work our way through Wicked Weed’s extensive tap list with this pair of fruited, summery offerings, one a session sour and the other a hazy India Pale Ale.
Wicked Weed Strawberry Kiwi Burst – The beer pours an almost cranberry red with a fluffy, pink grapefruit-tinged head. The aroma is big and bright with a burst of strawberry candies, sweet and mildly tart. Something a bit greener lingers underneath the berry notes, but it’s not quite kiwi, more like green apple Jolly Rancher. It’s a refreshing nose, sweet but not overbearing. The palate is lightly carbonated and easy drinking, certainly sessionable for sour fans, offering up an early, gentle tartness and top notes of underripe strawberry and dried kiwi fruit with a subtly salty edge. Things sweeten out a touch into the finish but, for the most part, maintain a true enough sour profile to the clean, crisp end. 4.5 % abv. B+
Wicked Weed Dr. Dank Mango Wowie – As if the Cashmere and Citra hops didn’t pack enough of a fruity punch, Wicked Weed has added mango to this hazy IPA for an even more tropical brew. The beer pours a deep, gold, lightly cloudy with a lemon-tinged head. On the nose, a big slug of ripe, sweet tropical notes present something of an island cornucopia: featuring mango, papaya, coconut, and pineapple, among others. A dry, piney hop note eventually crashes the party as it opens in the glass, but it doesn’t do much to restrain all that fruit. The palate is mildly carbonated and well-balanced with an almost silky texture. Light notes of mango, plantain, and fresh pineapple comprise a profile much less exuberant than the aroma foreshadowed. Hoppy undertones are not exactly “dank,” but they are well-integrated, showing only the slightest trace of bitterness on the clean, mildly fruited finish. A borderline sessionable IPA, perfect for summertime. 6.2% abv A-
each $13 per six-pack / wickedweedbrewing.com
Wicked Weed Dr. Dank Mango Wowie
$13
