Beer geeks love hops these days, that’s a given. Mind you, I don’t mean to say beer geeks in the aughts, the nineties and even the eighties didn’t love hops. I was there during all of those decades, so I know for a fact that they did. Still, the rage here in the teens seems to be for beers with more and more emphasis on hops and the flavors that they provide. Grapefruit is a major flavor characteristic for many American West Coast hop varieties; a few brewers augment that by adding real grapefruit to their beer. Witness the popularity of one such beer, Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin as an example.

Along comes Magic Hat, however, and brings a fresh perspective on grapefruit IPA with their Electric Peel Grapefruit IPA. Electric Peel uses real grapefruit peel but also pink grapefruit flavor to give a different perspective on the notion of tossing grapefruit into your brew kettle.

Magic Hat says about the beer on their website:

An electric shock. A sweet scent in the air. A tantalizing tingle. Fresh directions are explored and big ideas are formed. Revealed is a creation peeled from formulas of hops and tang-touched fruit. Electric Peel arrives as a new way to IPA. Strip away the notions, find another motion and plug in to reveal the power of the peel.

Ingredients from the website:

Malts: Pale, Carapils

Hops: Apollo, Centennial, Chinook

yeast: English Ale

Additions: Grapefruit Peel, Pink Grapefruit Flavor

I enjoyed a tasty draft mug of Magic Hat Electric Peel Grapefruit IPA on a Sunday afternoon watching football at Taco Mac. It was a very reasonable $5 for a full mug pour, and you can get it around these parts for $7.99 a six-pack in bottles (also very reasonable). The beer has an alcohol content of 6% by volume with 65 IBUs.

My mug of Magic Hat Electric Peel Grapefruit IPA arrived a bright orange color with a thick head of loosely packed bubbles and bitter citrus zest and robust fruit in the nose. A sip revealed light caramel malt up front before the palate burst with bright juicy pink grapefruit. The beer finishes hoppy bitter with strong notes of sharp bitter peel too.

They key here is the balance between hops and grapefruit, and I think that is very nicely done. I’ll add to that the bitter grapefruit and hops served as an excellent counterpoint to an order of Taco Mac’s famous spicy wings. Very nicely done indeed, I think I would rate it at 3 and a half stars overall with a bonus half star for the bargain price.

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