Masthead Brewing Co. in Cleveland has teamed up with JAFB Wooster Brewery for a new West Coast IPA with one of the better names to cross a can this year: Sovereign Citizen. Weighing in at 6.5% ABV, this collaboration leans into the classic West Coast profile, hopped with Citra, Strata and Krush Cryo for notes the brewery describes as fruit salad, citrus and papaya.
The name comes with a wink built right into the marketing, with Masthead noting this IPA "prefers pre-1933 Gold Eagles to any other form of currency" and finishes dry with bitterness that "does not respect your authority." It is a playful bit of branding wrapped around what sounds like a genuinely well-built West Coast IPA, dry-finishing with just enough bitterness to keep things honest without tipping into palate-wrecking territory.
Collaboration beers are always a bit of a Rorschach test for how two breweries' styles mesh, and pairing Masthead with JAFB Wooster Brewery for a West Coast IPA suggests both sides wanted to lean into clarity and drinkability rather than chase the murkiest, juiciest trend of the moment. Citra and Strata bring the fruit, Krush Cryo brings concentrated hop punch without excess plant matter, and the result should be a beer that smells louder than it tastes bitter.
Sovereign Citizen is available now for preorder and taproom pickup, priced at $11.99 plus tax per 4-pack, with a limit of six 4-packs per person. Masthead even suggests pairing it with their grilled salmon special if you are looking for food to go alongside it, which says something about the brewery's confidence in how well this one balances at the table.
If dry, hop-forward West Coast IPAs are your thing, Sovereign Citizen looks like a strong entry, and the collaboration angle gives it a bit of extra novelty. Just do not expect it to respect your authority.