Golden Road Brewing - Point The Way IPA

This next beer falls into the category of economy craft beer. These beers will run you about $2 a bottle or can and will even sometimes be on sale at your local grocery store. My first entry into this category is Golden Road Brewing Point The Way IPA.

Golden Road is a pretty new addition to the LA beer scene, having only opened up in September of 2011. They have about 4 beers in the core lineup and a few barrel-aged variations that pop up around town as well. Their non-draft options are currently limited to Point The Way and Hefewizen, which are both are available in 16oz can six packs for $12. Golden Road also has a taproom in Glendale where they offer growlers, but I wouldn’t recommend getting a growler of their canned beers, as it will cost you more per ounce than the cans. The idea behind Point The Way was to create a mild, lower alcohol IPA that still brought a good amount of hoppy punch.

The beer pours a clear amber yellow color with a good amount of head and lace. The aroma is very hoppy. It started out smelling piney with a bit of grassiness but as time passed I started to pickup on some citrus aromas. There is just a hint of bready malt as well. The body is surprisingly light and refreshing but lacks the hop punch I was expecting from the aroma. There is a bit of citrus and fruity hop and some malty undertones, but nothing really overpowering. The beer leaves a slightly bitter hoppy aftertaste that fades pretty quickly. Coming in at 5.2% ABV, this is a very drinkable beer that will probably appeal to most palates. And for the naysayers, I did not detect any difference between the canned and draft versions of this beer.

This beer is right on par with the larger craft breweries base IPA offerings (like Stone, Firestone Walker, and Sierra Nevada). I generally prefer my IPAs to have a bit more kick than this one has, but I could definitely see myself bringing this beer to a party or a barbecue where there might be people with less hop appreciative palates. This beer can be found all over town, but more specifically you will find it at Whole Foods, Sunset Beer Co, Mohawk Bend, and Tony’s Darts Away.