ACME California IPA - North Coast Brewing Co., Fort Bragg

It just doesn't get much more generic than ACME. ACME is to brand names what John Doe is to missing persons. The name ACME conjures up images from the old Roadrunner cartoons where Wile E. Coyote buys a defective product via mail order catalog... not exactly the sort of brand recognition you'd want if you were a marketer. I'm being a little facetious here because the ACME name was used in honor of the old ACME Brewing Company that used to be in San Francisco, so it wasn't like the marketing geniuses at North Coast sat around thinking of a new name for their IPA and this is the best they could do. That being said... this is they best they could do? I can respect them wanting to pay respect to a predecessor but did they really need to name their beer "John Doe IPA"...

Packaging aside, this beer isn't half bad. It's only about half-good so don't rush out to pick up a six pack just yet. Being an IPA you can expect this beer to have more than its fair share of hops while it sits on the fence between drinkable and bitter. What you may not be expecting from North Coast's ACME IPA is it's sweet citrus component. There is a fair bit of orange and lemon that has stowed away in the bottle and provides an exciting little twang when you take a sip. That signature IPA bite is present in this beer and, honestly, everything but the surprise citrus splash is really quite textbook for an India Pale Ale. Unless you are new to the IPA style I'd say you could safely pass this beer up as it doesn't do anything you seen before... unless, of course, you get really excited for hidden citrus surprised.