No Comment… No Comment, No Comment, No Comment. I feel like that’s all I’m hearing this week. Eh, it’s ok, though. This one doesn’t need a comment for me to get a little bit excited about it. As a drinker who isn’t a huge fan (compared to other styles, relax) of IPAs, what I am a big fan of is White IPAs. For this reason, when the label approval for Luna Lux slid across my digital desk – I was too excited about it to not share it with you (even with a MadTree “no comment”)
Keep in mind, label approvals don’t always mean that we’re going to see these beers, that they’ll ever get made. It just means that a brewery has the approval to package it with this label on it… though – they’re often a hell of a good hint.
What’s A White IPA?
I think we can safely assume that the term IPA conjures up a pretty reasonable image for everyone at this point, but that’s not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking White IPAs, which are a hybrid between the big, hop-forward IPA style that makes up the majority of craft beer today, and the Belgian Wit – which showcases a spicy yeast profile.
When you pair up this yeasty Belgian style with the citrusy, hop-forward American IPA you get a new beast. The beer style is crisp and refreshing, while still being flavor forward. The style was invented during a collaboration between Deschutes (known for their hoppy beers) and Boulevard (who loves wheat) – the match turned out two collaborations that set things in motion and in 2015, the BJCP welcomed this new style into its ranks.
Luna Lux
The downside of the new MadTree branding that its cans are seeing is that the long-form descriptions that used to be emblazoned on the cans are gone now, with the artwork taking center stage. I suppose that’s not the downside, instead, it’s that we just don’t have that long-form description until when/if this beer is formally announced by the brewery.
We can see that the beer is a White IPA, and comes in at 6% ABV. The top of the can reads: “A silver lining shines through the trees, amidst the whispers of a midnight breeze. They used coriander and lemon peel (makes sense for the white IPA), but beyond that, we’ll have to wait for now to learn more about this new beer!
UPDATE – Release Information
MadTree has released some more details about this beer, so it’s time to pass those on to you! This new seasonal offering from MadTree will be released starting the week of 11/28 with a party in the MadTree taproom and will start hitting distro starting 12/4/17. The beer is designed to sit alongside Thundersnow as a winter seasonal but is purposely designed to compliment and contrast the character of their current winter seasonal beer. You can get a little more information about the release event and the fun stuff that they’ve planned around it on Facebook.
