Epic - Feel The Beat Of The Tangerine: There's a personal story associated with this beer. Some 20+ years ago, when my daughter was a kiddo, we were driving in the car and she was singing along to ABBA's "Dancing Queen." Not having a complete understanding of the lyrics in the chorus, she sang from the top of her lungs, "feel the beat of the tangerine" instead of "tambourine." You can imagine how much that made us laugh, hence that story gets rehashed every time that song comes on. Fast-forward 20 plus years and (full disclosure) my kid now works at Epic Brewing, her mom pitched the name for their next IPA, and ... now you all know.
An unfiltered, moderately golden body is topped by a puffy, creamy thick white cap ascending up past a finger. Epic doesn't skimp on the hops, so it is pretty astounding to me how strong the tangerines come across in this one. Freshly zested citrus leads off the aroma, with a backing cast of slight tropical fruits, oranges, ruby red grapefruit juice, herbal dankness, floral and passion fruit hops.
The citrus really just dominates this brew. Tangerines obviously come to mind, but more generalized blasts of oranges, grapefruits, clementine and general pithy bitterness arrive in waves on the taste buds. Notes of mango, passionfruit, dank herbals, floral, earthy and juicy hops fall well beyond the citrus barrage. An ever-so-slight hint of base malts and sweetness emerges, but the 7.0 ABV pretty much requires this small dose. Fluffy and creamy, perhaps even a bit chewy mouthfeel. The body itself is of medium thickness, and the carbonation leans towards the high side. Sharp citrus peel bitterness flows well, with the tangerine aftertaste lingering.
Overall: I suppose it's no surprise from Epic, but this one is beyond bold with a delivery of citrus flavor profile that everyone is going for now. It'ss a great change of pace from Epic.
Roosters/Uinta - Jetway Juicy: This collaboration brew celebrates the opening of Roosters' fourth pub in the Salt Lake International Airport. It pours a small finger of white head into a bulbous glass; the body looks like a dark orange to amber, so not the typical "juicy" look. The nose is somewhat juicier, loaded with grapefruit and some mango, while dank, piney hops linger underneath the fruit. A small amount of creamy wheat is present as well. It does a pretty nice job of staying balanced between traditional hop aromas and fruit.
The flavor is good, but doesn't quite have that fruit punch I'm looking for. While the hops are there, they don't help make up for the lack of juiciness. As for actual flavors, mostly those dank piney hops come through. Grapefruit is a secondary flavor, and mango is semi- present. I'm glad the hearty hop notes are the ones that are shining, yet it is still missing something. It's definitely not a sweet New England style, which again, is good—a very nice American pale ale. The drinkability is very high; it's a perfect pale ale beer, very tasty and inoffensive.
Overall: It's a tasty brew that hits home with the wrong flavors—and by wrong, I mean wrong for a juicy pale ale.
That said, Roosters says that version 2.0 Jetway Juicy is already out, and has more of the juicy qualities that the faithful will be looking for. Right now, this 5.0 percent beer is only on draft at Roosters' Layton, B Street and Airport locations. Epic's Feel The Beat Of The Tangerine is available in 16-ounce cans at the brewery, However the DABC is getting it in 22-ounce bottles. As always, cheers!
About The Author
Mike Riedel
Local boy and pilot of City Weekly’s best gig, The Beer Nerd column since 2017. Current photojournalist at KSTU TV (Fox 13) and host of the Utah Beer Blog and Beer Nerd Radio on KUAA 99.9 FM radio.
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