While on my trip to Cornwall, my friends and I paid the popular seaside town of St Ives a visit. It was only the second time I’d been there since my first year of University. As I always do when I visit somewhere new, I’ve got an eye out for the local bottle shops, breweries and pubs. This time around, the location of choice was ‘JOHNS’, a wine, spirit and (most importantly) beer shop. I picked up a good variety of things including ‘Back Road East’ a New England IPA from local brewers St Ives Brewery! A new brewery to me, this one came in at 5.8% ABV.

The beer pours a hazy, pale, straw gold with a dense, slightly off-white head. Quite a subtle nose in all honesty with hints of your classic New England aromas of tropical fruits. Lots of citrus to the body with strong flavours of grapefruit peel coming across. There is a strong hoppiness throughout but particularly on the finish where there is a good bitter kick to the beer. A little grassy or piney compared to your typical NEIPA but still solid drinking.

A quick note on the can art: As we all know, I am a sucker for photography. A gorgeous image of sunset looking out across St Ives bay. Doesn’t get much better than that to be honest.

Back Road East is a solid beer but doesn’t particularly adhere to the rules of what most would call a traditional New England IPA. It doesn’t have those soft fruity flavours present and instead has more of a focus on bitter, hoppy citrus notes. That doesn’t make it a bad beer, just not what you expect when you open the can. I personally think that for the ABV it could do with a tighter, less thin body but that is down to my personal preference. Overall, it’s easy drinking with good flavours that I’d certainly have a pint of if I saw it on tap in a local boozer!

Score: 6.5/10

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Additional Information:

• Hops: Not Available
• Malt: Not Available
• IBU: Not Available
• ABV: 5.8%
• Gluten Free: No
• Vegan: Yes!
• Purchase Location: JOHNS – Spirits, Wine, Beer (St Ives)