Guys, am I the only one worried about Junk Male? For the past two weeks he has solely survived on pumpkin spices. It’s not even September yet. I am genuinely and legitimately concerned that he’s going to die.

Anyway, on to the review!

Westbrook makes some super nifty beers. Their gose is generally considered to be a masterpiece of the German genre; it’s so perfect that I can’t believe Westbrook is a South Carolina brewery. (Not because U.S. breweries can’t emulate good European beer, but because South Carolina usually produces low quality goods.) I’ve had a couple of their IPAs before, but this was a new sighting.

It’s a relatively small-batch annual release, with enough variation to bring people back each year. The bottle is beautiful, which doesn’t matter at all, but I specifically enjoyed the little fruit ninja men who are ostensibly preparing the grapefruits for fermentation. My dog agreed.

I popped it open and it smelled like a typical DIPA (extremely hoppy with some sweet honey and lemon) but with an extra punch of grapefruit. The taste is fruitier than the smell, which is awesome. Sometimes the honey flavor of DIPAs can be a bit overwhelming, but grapefruit is the real star here. The hops are actually downplayed to an extent that real hop heads might be frustrated by the lack of bitterness. You only get the bitter tones at the very beginning and at the very end, right when you breathe in and breathe out. Personally, though, I dig it. The hops blend with the sweeter notes to make a citrusy, moderately hoppy, and slightly sour concoction that is downright dangerous at 9.5%.

This is a solid DIPA, especially if you’re a big grapefruit fan. One of the best things about it is that you could recommend it to a wide variety of people and I bet everyone would find something that they liked (even if it’s just the fruit ninjas on the label). Westbrook, thank you for proving that South Carolina should be famous for more than just its laws against oral sex. 

Likelihood That Junk Male Will See His 30th Birthday Rating: 2.5 out of 10
South Carolinians’ Anger Towards Me Rating: 7 out of 10*
Overall Rating: 8.5 out of 10

*Strictly hypothetical, as South Carolinians can’t read.