Cisco Variety Pack

This Cisco variety pack is a mixed-case format from a Massachusetts brewery, with the beer category listed as IPA. The point of it is range: several different beers in one carton, so the ABV and bitterness change from can to can rather than following a single profile. Because the lineup can vary from one pack to the next, check the labels on the cans themselves for each beer's ABV and IBU before you pour. If the pack includes IPAs, expect the usual hallmarks of the style: citrus, pine or tropical-fruit hop aroma over a malt base that stays in the background, with bitterness that lingers at the finish. Lighter or malt-forward beers in a mixed pack will taste rounder and less bitter. Drinking the lighter ones first and the hoppier ones last keeps the sharper bitterness from flattening the milder beers. Serve everything cold, roughly 38 to 45°F. Hop-driven beers show more aroma toward the warmer end of that range, and lagers or lighter styles are better closer to fridge temperature. A standard pint glass or a tulip-shaped IPA glass will work for the whole pack, since the narrowing top of a tulip holds hop aroma better than a straight-sided glass. For food, hoppy beers hold up to spicy dishes, burgers, fried chicken, sharp cheddar and tacos, while malt-forward or lighter beers suit pizza, grilled sausages and roasted vegetables.