21st Amendment Brewing Company was founded in 2000 in San Francisco’s historic South Park by Nicco Freccia and Shaun O’Sullivan. They have made a good name for themselves out in San Francisco, winning several awards from the local press. Their beer has grown in distributorship steadily and now finds itself from coast to coast with at least some of their offerings. One of those beers, their Blood Orange IPA, is up for review.
The Blood Orange IPA pours a golden orange with a white, frothy head that stood just over one finger tall at its height. The aroma of orange and citrus is dominates but it does allow notes of hops and malt to shine through in the nose as well. There was a bit of carbonation as the beer poured but it evened out after the pour. This beer looks inviting.
The first sip follows the nose very closely. The citrus from the orange shines through with some notes of grapefruit from the hops. There is a slight hoppy, bitter finish but just enough to leave you wanting to take another sip. The beer is on the lighter side of medium, or it could be the heavier side of light. There was also some sticky lacing on the glass as I drank which made my glass look like it was tastefully decorated for Halloween.
Overall, this beer is pretty darn good. The sweet citrus up front followed by the hops and grapefruit notes were a fun tease for the palate. As soon as you were finished with one sip you wanted another. If you like IPAs then I suggest giving this a try. It will be a slightly different variation on what is becoming a saturated market.