Beer of the Week: Tropic Thunder

From the Beer Writer: There are a lot of important firsts in a person’s life: first date, first kiss, first (and hopefully only) wedding day, the birth of one’s first child. And for brewers, there’s the first of their beers that gets packaged in cans and made available to the masses. While Little Miss Brewing is in the process of finalizing the new brewery and cellar setup at its Logan Heights headquarters, they’ve been doing some brewing with their contemporaries at downtown’s Mission Brewing. A fringe benefit of that is access to a canning line that was recently used to package this week’s featured beer, Tropic Thunder. Little Miss opened back in 2016 and Head Brewer Guillermo Lopez has been with the company a half-a-dozen years, so this is a big first that’s been a long time coming for both. In cooking up a beer bound for a maiden voyage in aluminum, Lopez went big…as in big on hops. Dubbed a “citrus IPA”, Tropic Thunder delivers flavors and aromas of tangerine, peach and passionfruit before transitioning to a finish offering a lupulin spike followed by mellow, lasting orange-candy notes. It’s a solid West Coast IPA offering nuance and sturdiness as well as the tropic and citrus character its name and description promise.

From the Brewery: “Introducing Tropic Thunder, an electrifying beer that will transport your taste buds to a tropical paradise. Crafted with a masterful blend of Citra, Mosaic and Simcoe hops, this brew combines hoppy goodness with a burst of exotic flavors. Being the first canned beer we’ve ever made, we wanted to brew something truly special for Little Miss fans and beer enthusiasts. Cheers! “—Guillermo Lopez, Head Brewer, Little Miss Brewing