Beer of the Weekend #884: Extinction Event (Columbus + Galaxy + Mosaic)

Oh snap! I’ve been doing triple duty, painting at my sister’s and working this week, so I forgot to post the review of last weekend’s beer: Extinction Event (Columbus + Galaxy + Mosaic), brewed by the Confluence Brewing Company of Des Moines, Iowa.



The color is a cloudy gold that looks a lot like orange juice. A finger of beige, buttery, bubble-spotted head leaves a skim and a buttery collar.

The aroma is light but juicy with scents of orange, light pineapple, grapefruit, melon, and floral hops. (At some point, I need to nail down the difference between floral and earthy hops. Personally, I associate spice with earthy hops, but that’s just me.) It’s sticky sweet, but it is not super juicy or anything like pineapple or orange juice.

The flavor is mostly the same with orange, pineapple, grapefruit, muskmelon, and floral hops. It’s tropical but does not conjure images of a Caribbean paradise. (Do you know what Hemingway book I need to reread? Islands in the Stream. I read it in college and was impressed, but I need to revisit it. The more Hemingway I read now the less I idolize his writing.) The mouthfeel and body are soft. The bitterness is prominent and lingers, which does not mesh with my expectation from the style; I want it to be much juicier and tropical.

Fun facts about EE(C+G+M):

• Style. New England IPA.

• Price: I forgot to grab the receipt, but I think it was $11.99 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans at the New Pioneer Food Co-op in Iowa City.

• Alcohol content: 6.2 percent ABV.

• IBUs: Interestingly, the Confluence website pegs the IBUs at 0. Yeah, somebody needs to fix that.

• Extinction Event is Confluence’s series of New England IPAs; each edition uses a different combination of hops. The first used Citra and Hull Melon hops.


The Quiet Man’s grade: B.

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