Backlash Beer Co.
Holyoke, MA
Conquest combines citrusy, sweet orange characteristics of a Belgian wit with flavorful and fragrant American hops. This white IPA features Summit, Citra and Simcoe hops, resulting in a tropical fruit bouquet and a powerful burst of hop flavor, finishing relatively dry with a lingering pine bitterness.
ABV: 5.5
ABW: 4.6
COLOR: 4.4
BITTERNESS: 20
ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 1050
AVAILABLE: MA
The color of hazy sunbeams splashes into the glass as faint whiffs of lightly toasted wheat bread and white grapefruit rise up to greet the nose. A faint white head recedes quickly. Coriander and other spices predominate in the first sip, with a slight toastiness and flavors of bitter grapefruit bringing up the lead. Lightly carbonated, this is a good beer after any sort of physical activity—it’s easy to drink and won’t fill you up. This refreshing quaff finishes very dry with just a little lingering bitterness, begging for another sip.
- Lisa Morrison
This ‘white IPA’ certainly does combine elements of both the witbier and IPA styles, pouring a hazy golden and raising a bready aroma loaded with peppery, zesty citrus fruits. Refreshingly tart lemon notes lead in the bittersweet, otherwise bready, slightly chewy taste, with a gentle spicy warmth and a hint of perfume also in the mix. To me, it’s more a wit than an IPA up to this point, then the finish—which is dry, bready and chewy, but turns bitter surprisingly quickly as the hops kick in—turns things around. Interesting and enjoyable.
- Jeff Evans
Lisa Morrison
Lisa Morrison, aka The Beer Goddess, writes about beer whenever and wherever she can and also gets to talk about it on a weekly radio show in her hometown of Portland, OR.
Jeff Evans
Author of the Good Bottled Beer Guide and The Book of Beer Knowledge, Jeff Evans is an eight-time editor of the CAMRA Good Beer Guide. More of his writing can be found at www.insidebeer.com.