Masthead Brewing Co. lists peach ring candy first among the tasting notes on its newest Duality. That is less of a reach than it sounds. One of the two hops in the beer is Dolcita, a recent commercial release from the Hop Breeding Company whose published descriptors run to stone fruit, tropical sweetness and, specifically, peach rings. The brewery did not have to invent the comparison. It came attached to the ingredient.
Duality: Dolcita & Strata is a double hazy IPA at 8.3 percent ABV, and the name is the recipe. Duality is a recurring Masthead release built on a pairing of two hops, with the pair changing from one iteration to the next. This time it is Dolcita and Strata. Alongside the candied stone fruit, the brewery lists papaya and mango.
Strata is the counterweight. Bred in Oregon and released commercially in 2018, it is documented for passionfruit and strawberry alongside a resinous, faintly dank streak that most sweet-leaning hazy IPAs could use more of. Pairing it with a hop whose whole personality is confectionery is a reasonable way to keep an 8.3 percent beer from reading as syrup.
The can carries the theme without belaboring it: a crescent moon on one panel, a sun on another, the label shading from gold into green in between.
At that strength this is not a beer that wants a dessert next to it. Something salty and grilled would do more for the tropical end of the hop bill than anything sweet.
Duality goes up for preorder through Oznr on Friday, August 28, at 11:30 a.m., with pickup beginning the same time at Masthead's Superior Avenue taproom in Cleveland. Four-packs are 19.99 dollars plus tax, limit six per person.
Source & Editorial
JollyPint independently prepares release articles using information published by breweries through newsletters, websites, and other official public communications. Brewery-supplied descriptions and tasting notes are reported as provided, while editorial context is added by JollyPint.