Judge's Review: 92 Rating - L'Attitude by DC Brau and Cape May Brewing Co.

I am judging L'Attitude by DC Brau and Cape May Brewing Co. as an American IPA. 

The aroma hits you with a strong pine and spruce hop aroma, followed by generic hop spiciness and a more unexpected pink peppercorn aroma. There is a low, honey-like aroma that is layered on top of a bready malth character. The ferementation characteristics were very clean.

The beer had an enticing appearance. The head was white and substantial, with excellent retention. There were large bubbles (somewhat unusual for the style), and a haze (consistent with dry-hopping). The beer itself is a delighful golden amber.

The most notable characteristic of the flavor is its balance. The maltiness is well offset by the bitterness, and while, as is expected for this style, the hops and bitterness dominate, this is an exceptionally balanced beer. The pine characteristics from the aroma were present in the flavor, aong with mango, passion fruit, and orange (all hop-derived, I assume). 

While my mouth was left with a slight resiny feeling, the overall sensation was of drinking a clean beer. The beer had a moderate body with moderate carbonation, no astringency and no acidity.

In short, this was an exciting and fun beer to drink. It hit all the notes I expect of an IPA and delighted me with a fruity complexity in the flavor. I would definitely drink this again!