Keg Slayer (2021, no longer in production)

Cooperage Brewing Company — Santa Rosa

4 May 2021 · Stephen

West Coast IPA Cooperage Brewing Company

7.0% ABV

Golden amber Color

Contributing Factors

Presentation ✓

Character ✓

Experience ✓

Return –

3 / 4 I'd recommend trying it

Tasting Notes

Appearance Golden to light amber, clear with a persistent white head. West Coast IPA clarity — no haze, no ambiguity, just a bright, confident pour that looks exactly like a beer named Keg Slayer should look.

Aroma The three-hop combination arrives in layers. Citra leads with citrus and tropical fruit — orange, tangerine, a little mango. Mosaic layers in berry and additional tropical depth underneath. Simcoe adds its distinctive resinous pine and earthy dankness in the background, giving the whole nose a West Coast edge that keeps it from going purely fruit-forward. Together they produce a hop aroma that's expressive, complex, and immediately appetizing.

Palate Crisp, clean, and smooth — the drinker consensus that spans every check-in. Citra and Mosaic carry the tropical fruit and citrus through the middle, Simcoe's resinous pine building on the back half alongside a firm, well-integrated bitterness. At 7% ABV there's real body and presence without heaviness — the crispiest coast IPA. The malt backbone is present but restrained, keeping attention on the hop bill where it belongs.

Finish Long, dry, and resinous. The Simcoe pine character and Mosaic dankness linger on the back palate with a sustained bitterness that resolves cleanly. The Citra citrus fades first, the earthier hop qualities staying longer — a finish that earns the Keg Slayer name by making the next pour completely inevitable.

The Verdict

Cooperage's Sonoma County West Coast IPA flagship — Citra, Simcoe, and Mosaic at 7% ABV, crisp, clean, and built to do exactly what the name says.

— Stephen · Contributing Factor Brewing · 4 May 2021