Bristol's Flagship lineup get's a bit more Tropical

Bristol Brewing's Flagship Brews lineup has stayed pretty consistent for as long as many can remember, but that is about to change. Tomorrow, Bristol will unleash its Ivywild School Tropical Pale Ale into the world, paying homage to the converted elementary school where Bristol calls home. Can't wait a day? Lucky for you, tonight visitors to Bristol Brewing can get the first taste at their release party!

"Ultimately we love hoppy beers and wanted to explore the evolution of the Pale Ale style. Red Rocket Pale Ale was the first beer Bristol Brewing made and sold and it was made with what was available in 1994 based on the style of that time."

At first smell, the beer sends off aromas of mangoes, pineapple and a bit of caramel. There's definitely more caramel in there than many brewers are using these days, as the haze craze has taken over, but it still has a juicy fruity smell that contrasts nicely.

"Despite the splash of bright tangering and grapefruit that hits you at first sip, no fruit were harmed in the making of this beer."

"We absolutely love Red Rocket (it's Amanda Bristol's personal favorite), but coming up on the 25th anniversary, a lot has changed in the beer world so we wanted to pay homage to the past with an additional Pale Ale in our lineup but using newer hop varieties and exploring what the style is today."

You can definitely tell that Bristol went a bit crazier than normal with the hopping schedule, and at 45 IBUs, this tropical pale ale sits at the higher end of the BJCP guidelines for an American Pale Ale. As the beer warms, you definitely notice the copious amounts of Mandarina Bavaria, Mosaic, Citra, and Azacca providing ample juiciness for your palate. It's not hazy, nor is it a NEIPA, but it's a solid offering from one of Colorado Springs' older breweries and we can't wait to drink more.

"We've been playing with all types of hoppy beers over the past few years - beyond Compass and Red Rocket we have World Peace Death Ray Imperial IPA, Knob Hill Station Imperial Rye PA, Automaton White IPA, we did a fresh hop pale ale last year (and have another one coming in a few weeks, it was brewed this morning!), a mosaic pale ale earlier this summer and did a single hop IPA series for a while too - so based on all of those experiences we felt we were ready to put our Flagship stamp on a new Pale Ale."

As with the standard lineup of beers, local illustrator Luke Flowers did the label artwork and it ties in nicely with their current cans.

"Obviously Ivywild School is our home and in a way has come to define us as "the brewery in a school" so we wanted to immortalize the importance of this building to us on a can and Luke captured it perfectly and we couldn't be happier with how everything turned out. "

So, when can you get it? Ivywild School Tropical Pale Ale is joining the five core beers of Compass, Red Rocket, Laughing Lab, Mass Transit and Beehive, so look for cans and draught wherever you normally find Bristol beer.Or...Join Bristol for their release of Ivywild School Tropical Pale Ale tonight at 6 pm in the Bristol Pub, conveniently located inside Ivywild School.