Coronado Brewing North Island IPA
It’s interesting to me that a brewery known for crafting solid West Coast IPAs has brewed an example of the style more inline with those found in New England. It used to be that breweries in the eastern states did everything they could to brew a true take on the products that Coronado Brewing seems to crank out with ease. North Island IPA certainly has the look of those IPAs coming from the northeast — it’s hazy, lighter colored. But the California company has made sure not to lose their West Coast identity with this 7.5% ABV beer.
While tropical fruits abound in the unfiltered IPA, a blend of Columbus, Centennial, Citra and Mosaic hop varieties not only provide that flavor profile, but also maintain a pretty solid hop bite at 40 IBU. Grapefruit, pineapple, melon, mango and orange all come together in a wonderful blend of tropical character while pine, lemon zest, grain and grassy notes fill in the cracks. That hop bite isn’t going to crush your tastebuds, but it’s enough to be indicative of the company’s roots.
With North Island IPA, Coronado have themselves a treat of a beer. The IPA has many of the hallmarks of the trendy, regional example of the style while still retaining that West Coast attitude. It’s lively, flavorful and refreshingly tasty. I can see bottles of this one filling (and eventually disappearing) from my beer fridge on a frequent basis.
This is a review of a promotional sample.