The Mutants Are Revolting

 

          For the record, I love the innovation that comes with craft brewing. Without the craft beer industry’s innovations we wouldn’t have IPA made with rye, or seasoned with juniper berries. Nor would we have the unique, ever changing Christmas beers brought to us by Anchor Brewing. And we definitely wouldn’t have breweries like Brewdog continue to make the strongest beers in the world, or Flying Dog bringing the world’s most historic beers back to life. That very innovation gives me grief however, when we start inventing new styles and substyles of beer.

The session IPA is one such substyle. Essentially, the session IPA is just a regular IPA, except with less than 5% abv. It’s that alcohol content under 4.5% that makes this a “session” version of an IPA. Personally, I’ve always thought that was just a pale ale with an extra dose of hops. However, producers of these beers disagree with me, asserting that it’s still an IPA just with a lower alcohol content. So here we are getting ready to crush our review of a “crushable” session IPA. The Mutants are Revolting fills my glass with a medium hazy, pale amber colored beer. Thin streams of carbonation support a rocky white head which leaves good lacing as it slowly recedes down the side of the glass.

          Ripe, juicy hop aromas rise from the glass supported by hints of pine. Overall hop nose is perfumey with background grassiness, helping give the nose structure. Beneath all this, hints of malt come through, only helping add to the beer’s aromatic profile. Biscuit malts give the nose hints of bread that are faint, but present. This adds a hint of sweetness to the nose which I think only helps balance out the beer’s assertive hop nose.

          On the tongue, Mutants are Revolting are anything but revolting. It’s a medium bodied ale, with a juicy up front hop profile. Medium carbonation cuts into that initial hoppiness, showing me the bready, soda cracker flavors of the beer’s paler malts. The flavor sweetens briefly before carbonation leads into a dry, hoppy finish. Mutants are Revolting’s finish is crisp, bitter, and kind of woody in nature. I find it to be a nice contrast to the ripe, almost tropical juiciness that greeted me up front.

          I think The Mutants are Revolting deserves a 7.5 out of 10. It’s a very well balanced, well executed version of the American IPA. I find myself enjoying the beer’s hop profile both at the front and at the end of each sip. I like very much how the hop finish gives contrast to the ripe juiciness I get at the start of each sip. Carbonation and malt provide balance and structure to the overall beer and the medium carbonation gives backbone without throwing the flavors all out of balance.