Modern West Coast IPA · 7.2% ABV · West Ghost IPA on Untappd
Reviewed: September 20, 2026 (inferred from the Apple Note’s creation date; no separate tasting date was written).
An old-school IPA back from the dead, lest we forget that today's haze began bright. This West Coast ghost is uber crisp and proudly bitter, with notes of citrus and sweet fruit.
The beer is golden, straw colored, lightly hazy. Foam is coarse, medium rich, lacing; the foam disappears quickly. The beer smells strongly citrusy: lemon zest, orange juice, implements syrup, sugar-making factory, passion fruit, guava, orange juice nose. Yes, it’s less caramelized, but zesty, fruity, and crystallized sugar, like hard-candy noses. The beer is lightly sweet, lightly bitter, light to medium bodied, smooth.
For Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., this is definitely a modern IPA. The malts are crystallized, clean and hard-candy-like, which help boost the fruitiness, and make it fruity-candy-like. The beer shows simple syrup, melon, orange juice, subtle tangerine, earthy grape vine, leafy, subtle lawn aromas. The hop character is half citrusy, half leafy greens, which is in the spirit of a West Coast IPA’s characters, but there’s no punishment of bitterness. It’s less malty, and cleaner and fruitier.
I don’t know why Sierra Nevada named it ghost, but I do feel this is less of a punch-in-your-face approach for hoppy West Coast IPAs, and closer to an aromatic, subtle, smooth drink like a modern West Coast IPA. When I buy the mass-production Sierra Nevada beers, sometimes they taste bland, showing a lot of earthy hop aroma, tasting less wet-fresh-hops, but more malty. This one definitely shows Sierra Nevada knows what the trends are about, but on the execution side it’s not at the state-of-the-art modern West Coast IPA level. But it’s welcome. I can imagine the godfather of beer is playing a kid game, and telling you, “I know ya.” The beer’s price tag is friendlier, and for people who drink Sierra Nevada beer nowadays this is a challenge for them to accept the change of time, but for the trendy beer snob this is not moving the needle.
Untappd listed this beer at 3.96/5 from 8,094 ratings when checked on October 12, 2026 (UTC). That is a snapshot of Untappd user ratings, not my own score.
Beer review critics
The interesting disagreement is not whether the beer has citrus, but whether its candy-like aroma really means sweetness or a gentler bitterness than the brewer intended.
Gemini — Gemini 3.1 Pro (High), via Antigravity CLI
What rings true. Your notes of vibrant citrus and sweet fruit aromatics directly mirror the brewery's official "citrus and sweet fruit" profile.
Where I'd challenge. Sierra Nevada promotes West Ghost as "uber crisp and proudly bitter," which clashes with your sensory impressions of light bitterness and hard-candy malt. Rather than doubting your palate, consider how fruit aroma diverges from physical taste: intense sweet fruit aromatics can psychologically suggest sweetness, softening perceived bitterness even across a crisp finish. Regarding framing, you label this modern, while Sierra Nevada presents an old-school throwback. I must also challenge your unverified claim of "crystallized malts"; without brewery confirmation, asserting grist makeup is speculative. Additionally, what did you mean by "implements syrup"? That phrase is unclear.
Next comparison. Compare West Ghost alongside a classic, resinous West Coast benchmark and a contemporary, bone-dry craft IPA. This side-by-side will test whether your hard-candy perception reflects physical residual sugars or cross-modal aromatic sweet-fruit priming.
— Gemini, selected excerpts from a new critique by Gemini 3.1 Pro (High reasoning).
ChatGPT — OpenAI GPT-6.1 Sol (high reasoning)
Strongest observations. Your most convincing distinction is between abundant citrus/tropical aroma and modest perceived bitterness. Lemon zest, guava, leafy greens, and hard candy give that contrast specificity; “no punishment of bitterness” communicates your experience better than the brewery’s positioning does. Your palate is the stronger evidence for your own glass, though it doesn’t establish that the brewer’s “proudly bitter” description is false. Light sweetness and smoothness also leave “uber crisp” untested: dryness needs its own observation, not an inference from restrained bitterness.
Where I'd test the claim. Hard-candy and syrup imagery can describe aroma without demonstrating residual sugar, particular malts, or sugar additions. “The malts are crystallized” crosses from perception into an unsupported ingredient explanation. What do you mean by “implements syrup”? That phrase needs clarification.
The old-school/modern contrast is plausible as your stylistic reading: brighter fruit, less apparent caramel, gentler bitterness. But modern West Coast IPA needn’t mean low bitterness, and leafy character isn’t uniquely old-school. “Not state-of-the-art” needs a clearer sensory benchmark. The Untappd score supplies context, not flavor consensus.
Next pour. Taste alongside a familiar bitter IPA, blind, at matching temperatures. Record aroma first, then bitterness immediately after swallowing and again after thirty seconds. Separately note lingering sweetness, drying sensation, and finish. Try one brief nose-pinched sip to reduce fruit-aroma influence. Does bitterness become more apparent, or remain restrained even when the candy associations recede?
— ChatGPT, OpenAI GPT-6.1 Sol (high reasoning), critique supplied with the brewer description; the model did not taste the beer.