Beer of the Week: Fu! Express

In addition to having the opportunity to connect with brewers and put them in a series of potentially compromising positions, one of the best parts of shooting industry professionals at their workplaces for our Portrait of a BrewerQ&A series is getting to taste some of the house beers they’re most excited about. There’s one such instance I’ll never forget due to the overwhelming flavor and aroma of a freshie the team at North Park Beer Co. (NPBC) deemed a must-try beer. As I was shooting John Peacock(with a camera as opposed to projectile weaponry), he asked if I’d had a chance to sample their first-ever terpene IPA. When I responded in the negatory, he told me about his team’s first QC check of that beer, which they’d infused with terpenes (hydrocarbons derived from the essential oils of certain plants) from their supplier, Abstrax Hops, telling me the little dose they’d added had gone a long, long way, making for something that smelled far more like pot than beer. While far more into the latter than the former, I made a mental note. When the shoot was over, NPBC owner and Head Brewer Kelsey McNair asked if there was anything I wanted to sample before I headed back to the office. I replied with the name of this week’s featured beer, Fu! Express. My experience with this odoriferous outlier, a 7% alcohol-by-volume (ABV) West Coast IPA crafted with Pineapple Express terpenes, was on par with Peacock’s anecdote. Dank as the day is long, it smelled like a Phish concert right as the lights go down. I’m sure there were more nuanced aromas beneath that skunky lead scent, but they were hard to pick up. That was definitely not the case on the palate, where big, bright pineapple, tangerine and pine lit up my tastebuds, followed by sturdy bitterness and a bookending dankness. Though I only indulged in a sample-sized serving of the beer, the experience remained with me (obviously), so I was stoked to see Fu! Express was rejoining NPBC’s tap list this week. If you haven’t yet tried this IPA, believe me, it’s worth it simply for the sensory overload!

Fu! Express IPA might just be the dankest beer we’ve ever made. This 7% ABV triple dry-hopped West Coast IPA is built on a lineup of some of our favorite hops, including Krush Cryo, Columbus Cryo, Citra, Mosaic, Amarillo, Simcoe and Nectaron, layered for maximum saturation and intensity. The result is an oily, resinous and unmistakably dank expression, with notes of tropical fruit, pineapple, melon and citrus peel. To push it over the top, we dosed it with Abstrax Brew Gas Pineapple Express terpenes, delivering an explosive, fresh cannabis-adjacent aroma that jumps out of the glass from several feet away. On the palate, that same profile carries through with a more integrated “sticky” character that is diesel-y and berry-forward up front, followed by waves of citrus zest, pine resin and tropical fruit. A lean malt bill and firm bitterness keep the finish crisp and dry, amplifying drinkability while maintaining a distinctly modern San Diego edge. Fu! Express is both a showcase of our hop-forward approach and a reminder that sometimes more really is more.“

Kelsey McNair, Owner & Head Brewer, North Park Beer Co.

North Park Beer Co.’s tasting rooms are located at _____ in North Park, ______ in Bankers Hill and _______ in Pacific Beach