BEER REVIEW: 381

BREWER: The Innovative Brewing Co., West London, England

STYLE: Session IPA

ABV: 4.2%

VESSEL: 330ml tin

DATE OF POST: 24th January 2025

 

JYMI SAY’S…

Good gawd… whatta shocker!

Look, I see what The Innovative Brewing Co have tried to do here. Basically, brew a tasty IPA but containing far fewer calories and carbs than your regular beverage. I get it, I do, but it’s hardly innovative now is it?!

The trouble is when attempting such a feat, you kinda need to make sure the beer you produce is at least half decent. I understand that it would be incredibly tough to brew a showstopper when producing a beer of this ilk, but come on, half decent is all I ask.

But this brew falls well short of half decent I’m afraid. It’s really poor. From the seaweed nose to the seaweed aftertaste and the total lack of anything body wise in between, it really was a struggle to get this down. There was a glimmer of hoppy flavour in the sip but it didn’t amount to much nor was it particularly pleasant.

The can art and content were also not really doing anything for me, other than cause mild irritation once I realised how bad the beer was. So many statements, that end up kinda meaningless are thrown at us via the little green vessel…

IPA BUT BETTER

BEER BUT BETTER

FOR THOSE WHO DEMAND MORE

FULL FLAVOUR, FULL BODY BEER, WITHOUT THE GUILT

FOLLOW US & BECOME A #PRIMEMATE

BREWED TO THE HIGHEST BRITISH BREWING STANDARDS

I’m sure this isn’t the case but it almost seems like more time went into attempted catchy slogans and statements rather than producing a quality drinkable product.

If the Innovative slogan team got hold of concluding my review it would be a whole lot longer but luckily it’s me in charge of the keys and I can conclude in just one word…

AVOID.

Jymi’s Rating: 12%

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

“Prime Time” is a misnomer—this beer doesn’t live up to its name. Let’s be clear, it’s far from prime drinking material.  It misses the mark, leaving behind an underwhelming impression in almost every department.

The aroma starts with a faint whiff of dank citrus, a fleeting promise of the IPA character you’d hope for. Unfortunately, it feels muddled and lacks the vibrant hop-forward punch typical of the style. There’s something slightly off, leaving the nose feeling incomplete.

While there’s a whisper of hops at the start of the drinking, the flavour quickly fizzles into an unremarkable blandness. The bitterness is muted, the malt profile is barely present, and the finish is flat. It lacks the complexity or body to make any lasting impact, making each sip more forgettable than the last.

Prime Time IPA is, at best, a placeholder on the shelf. It offers little to entice or engage the drinker, with a flat flavour profile and pretty average execution. There are too many great IPAs on the market to waste time on this one. Best left as a forgettable footnote in the IPA world.

Sammy’s Rating: 38%

 

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 25%

MOB review next weekend: LIFE & DEATH by VOCATION

Sammy & Jymi – Musing on Booze weekly since 2017

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