Citrus IPAs are all the rage lately, and blood oranges seem to be one of the favored fruits for making them. Witness Monday Night Blood Orange Blind Pirate IPA, which began life as an entry in the brewery’s “Clip On” series of beers. Monday Night describes these as Variations on year-round beers, available for 3-4 months at a time in 6-packs and on draft. The beer currently under consideration is a variation of the delightful Blind Pirate IPA from Monday Night, one of my favorite examples of the style.

That style, of course, is double/imperial IPA for Blind Pirate and single IPA for this variant. Although I’ve seen Monday Night Blood Orange Blind Pirate IPA in cans before, for one reason or another I had not tried it yet. Taco Mac to the rescue, however, as Monday Night was the featured brewery for November of 2016, and I enjoyed a brimming mug of the Blood Orange Blind Pirate IPA on November 27^th.

From the website:

A juicy IPA. Pirates love citrus fruits almost as much as they love blood. If the phrase “you are what you eat” is true, then pirates are blood oranges. If the phrase “you are what you drink” is true, you’re about to be an incredibly delicious, juicy hop bomb of an IPA. We add bits of real blood orange to every beer, so you know it’s good.

Ingredients from the website:

Hops: Citra, Comet, Simcoe, Columbus

Malts: 2-row, Wheat, Munich, Caramel

Monday Night Blood Orange Blind Pirate IPA has an alcohol content of 7.4% by volume with 55 IBUs. By contrast, Blind Pirate Double IPA has an alcohol content of 8.3% by volume. I paid $6 for a 20-ounce mug at Taco Mac which is not bad but the beer runs high in cans at $10.99 a six-pack.

My mug of Monday Night Blood Orange Blind Pirate IPA arrived a dark reddish amber color with alight fluffy head and big luscious citrus in the nose. Taking a sip the beer has a solid malt backbone followed by pulpy juicy blood orange notes, bitter citrus rind and resin, and a long dry bitter grassy finish.

I really love the way the dark meaty citrusy notes of the blood orange combine with the citrus and resiny notes of the hops here. The question with these beers for me is always are they IPAs or fruit beers, but the IPA is dominant, so that’s what this is. Very tasty indeed, and I’m glad it’s now a year-round release from Monday Night.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

(G)=Growler