Green Flash Tangerine Soul Style IPA
Where in Town: Yes! Organic Market, 4100 Georgia Ave. NW
Price: $11.99/six-pack
Juice Bar
Grapefruit, passion fruit, mango, pineapple, lime—the list of ingredients in IPAs these days sounds like a pack Skittles. The craze for IPAs in general, and fruit IPAs in particular, has helped launch a line of new beers that pair the fruit flavors many American and Australian hops invoke with the real thing. One of the better ones out this year is from San Diego’s Green Flash Brewing Company. Just as other West Coast breweries like California’s Stone and Oregon’s Deschutes have expanded eastward to Virginia, Green Flash will soon have its own production facility in Virginia Beach.
Tangerine Dream
Known for its West Coast IPA, Green Flash has several hop bombs in its lineup. For the newest, the brewery takes its Soul Style IPA, released in 2014, and adds tangerine zest. The outcome is a juicy IPA that packs a punch. Aromas of orange slice candy and citrus rind go head to head. Pungent grapefruit and tangerine flavors—thanks to the zest, of course, as well as Citra and Cascade hops—are balanced with sweetness from American pale malts. At 6.5 percent alcohol, Tangerine Soul Style IPA is medium bodied with a satisfyingly dry, pithy finish. It’s a great spring beer, but luckily, this IPA is available all year and will be hitting D.C. taps and shelves even fresher once Green Flash is up and running in Virginia Beach later this year.
Photo by Tammy Tuck