Great South Bay Brewery - Omnipollo / Tupinquim "Poli Mango" IPA

D'Vines got in a small shipment of these imperial IPAs from Omnipollo, which is one of those beer production companies that produces on contract under a variety of labels, including Great South Bay Brewing Co., located in Bay Shore, NY. Also listed on the can is Cervejaria Tupinquim, a brewery based in Porto Alegre, a city in the Rio Grande do Sul state of Brazil...not to mention a reference to Twelve Percent, LLC, the distributor. So it's anyone's guess who made this or where it came from.

This beer is billed as a 9.50% ABV "Brazilian-style" Imperial IPA brewed with polenta, and it looked intriguing, so I picked up a can.

OK, two things - first, what is "Brazilian style"? All I can find online are references to other beers called "Brazilian"; unfortunately there is no actual definition of the style. There is an Untappd review of a different beer claiming that the mango is what makes it Brazilian, but I mean, mango is a common ingredient in beer these days, and we don't see everything referred to a "Brazilian", do we? I suppose the fact there's a Brazilian brewery listed on the can is the major qualifier here.

Secondly - it's made with polenta. Polenta! The corn stuff? Interesting choice, but I prefer it pan-fried with eggs, not in my beer. I suppose a brewer could add polenta right to the mash as a substitute for corn or flaked wheat to give body to the beer...not sure how it would come out, but I guess I'll see soon enough.

Pours a deep golden amber color, generates a nondescript aroma of some kind of fruit. Can't place it.

This is really tasty! It's just a touch sweet, sort of milky, with a surprisingly-strong flavor of mango pulp. Hop profile is pretty mild with some booziness from the alcohol, mostly at the end. As the beer develops on the tongue, I'm detecting a slight dried fruit note, like dates. Maybe that's what I was smelling earlier. There's a thick, somewhat chewy texture to this beer, which one can only assume to be the polenta - tastes a bit like the "skin" of a corndog. Fresh finish with the mango really hanging on after swallowing.

I liked this. Mango is a great, refreshing fruit to use in any beer, and I'm glad to see it make an appearance in a somewhat heavier beer - often you see mango in lighter ales or goses, not "bigger" IPAs. Don't let the polenta scare you - there isn't a strong corn flavor, but it's definitely there, and the texture is somewhat like grits - chewy and mealy but not overly thick. I grabbed this for $5.99, which is a fair price for one; $24 is a bit much for a four-pack though.