Casita Brewing Company “Enigma IPA” (The Singularity Single Hop Series)

Style: IPA
ABV: 7%

Happy Friday and welcome to another New Release review! For this week, we made it back to Casita Brewing Co. in Wilson, NC to catch the release of their latest in the “Singularity” series (which showcases one hop variety). You may recall that we previously reviewed “Pacific Sunrise” from Casita, which was a big hit, so it was great to get back to the brewery for their newest installment in the series: “Enigma IPA.” This IPA was brewed with – you guessed it – mosaic hops.

Joking of course! The enigma hop is native to Australia and is known for carrying a lot of fruity notes (with potential for different flavors and aromas imparted on your beer depending on its role in the brewing process). You can read more about this hop variety here. Without further ado, we’ll jump into the review!

Nick’s Take

Joe did me a solid about a month ago and held things down while I was out of town, and I’m glad to be able to return the favor this week (and he still contributed to this post – the guy never stops working!).

When I got my pint of “Enigma IPA,” I reveled at the persistence of the head after it was poured. It’s not uncommon for the fluffy foam to dissipate quickly, sometimes before Joe and I are able to get some photos. There was a nice cloud of white that stayed put for a majority of our tasting and, as I will describe next, it helped produce a ton of aroma. The body of the beer was a yellow-orange hue that was completely hazy and looked juicy. I got nostalgic for a moment and recalled my childhood memories of drinking Sunny D in the morning – a delicious part of a balanced, nutritious breakfast, or something to that effect.

While it might have resembled Sunny D, the aromas couldn’t have been more different. As previously mentioned, the Enigma hop variety imparts a lot of fruit characteristics, leaning toward red fruit, grape, and some melon. However, on the nose I was picking up more tropical fruit and citrus – pineapple, a touch of coconut, and some lemon zest. There was also a layer of dankness in my opinion. I was not super familiar with Enigma hops before trying this beer at Casita, but after doing some research on the variety, I am hoping to find this in other brews and see how it compares. It certainly seems that there can be a lot of different characteristics.

My first sip of “Enigma IPA” showed that the fluffy head was indicative of the mouthfeel, too. It was soft initially as it coated my taste buds, and eventually turned into a sharp, crisp finish. The sudden brightness helped lift the beer’s flavors. It was perhaps a bit drying on the backend, between sips, but didn’t leave the mouth feeling chalky or parched.

The main flavors I was getting from the Enigma hops were pineapple, coconut, melon, and a small dose of lemon. It was mostly tropical and juicy, and not particularly acidic/citrusy on my taste buds. I didn’t note much for malt flavor, but this may have been an intentional move by Casita to really showcase the hops; I believe their brew incorporated oat and Pilsner, which are not often standouts in flavor, but the oat definitely could’ve contributed to the smooth mouthfeel. There was also a slight bitter taste, or perhaps better described as sharp or spicy, in the back of the throat after each swig. However, the mix of juicy, tropical flavors were the primary characters and helped balance out the beer.

“Enigma IPA” was another success in our opinion (Joe enjoyed it, too). I found the balance of juicy and tropical fruit flavors very appealing, along with an exciting hit of sharpness in the mix. It goes down very smoothly, with a delicious hop profile and soft mouthfeel. Big thanks to Casita for incorporating Enigma hops into their “Singularity” series, as I don’t have much (if any) previous experience with this variety. I know that I will be looking for it again in the future, as well as the next single hop IPA that Casita concocts. Cheers!