Belt’s Beer Garden: Getting Trolled

Torn Label Brewing Company was the first stop on my quick, one-night trip through Kansas City. The brewery, located in the East Crossroads neighborhood, has a super cool taproom and a huge patio space that was open on select days.

After having a flight of some awesome brews, I decided to grab a few beers to go and one of my choices happened to be one of Torn Label’s newest releases - Sea Trolls.

Sea Trolls, which made its debut back on August 11th, is a hazy IPA brewed with a heavy dose of Sabro and Cryo Simcoe hops. It has a 6.7% ABV and four-pack of 12-ounce cans runs $14 which, since they’re smaller cans, means it’s a little pricier than most.

The brew pours a murky golden straw color with just about a finger of bright white head building up. The bubbles quickly fizzle down into a thin ring around the edge with very little lacing appearing down the side of the glass.

On the nose this was a pure juice bomb. A blast of sweet, juicy tropical fruits filled the entire room.

A blend of pineapple, mango, tangerine, orange, and grapefruit were most noticeable with some other lighter notes of lemon and guava peeking through too. The aroma was light and crisp and gave me the vibe that the brew would end with a hint of dryness.

My first sip began with a solid rush of carbonation that cleared the way for the hoppy flavors to appear. Initially there is a nice burst of citrus fruit and a slightly pithy grapefruit peel taste.

It was a nice mixture of tangerine, pineapple, and a bit of lemon zest that took control and never let go. That trio, led mostly by the tangerine, simply showed up and sat down on my tongue. And, with how juicy and tasty as those flavors were, I was VERY okay with that outcome.

On the backend, the grapefruit rind does add some pithy bitter notes and, as I predicted, the brew does end with some lingering dryness to it. After a few swigs of Sea Trolls, it was nice to have a glass of water nearby just to wash that dry feeling away.

Overall, this was a very delicious, very crushable IPA. It was super juicy and packed with those tropical and citrus flavors with very little else appearing.

I gave a few cans of Sea Trolls to some of my friends and now, after having tried it myself, that was a huge mistake! I wish I had more!! It’s a great beer.