Ag Boss from Alvarado Street is an IPA that is both crisp and commanding.

The folks at Alvarado Street Brewery have dubbed the newly-released Ag Boss a “Salinas-style IPA.”

No, that does not suggest the beer is served with a romaine chaser. Ag Boss is brewed at Alvarado’s Salinas facility, it’s a different take on their hazy IPA and it is fittingly fruit forward – although in a departure from the salad bowl norm.

Instead of strawberries, the beer is decidedly tropical. The scent of fresh papaya spills from the glass when it arrives at the table. A sip also reveals stewed pineapple, which makes for a brisk, refreshing combination. Yet there is a lot more going on.

Ag Boss has a deceptive creaminess. Instead of draping listlessly over the palate, the richness gives way to a light, buoyant mouthfeel. As the tropical fruits traipse with spirit, more rooted sensations appear – a distant minerality, for instance, and a more prominent breadiness that calms the fruit.

But Ag Boss is most notably an IPA. The brew team at Alvarado Street uses five different hops to create a bittersweet complexity that defines the beer. The hops are well chosen to shape the tropical flair, but also to bring depth. So there’s a sharp grapefruit edge, a creamy nip, a notion of colorful citrus groves butting up against a dark, dank pine forest – and it’s the resinous bite that wins out on the finish. The hops are like a fine, serrated blade – deft, but capable of grabbing the palate. It’s an ale that commands attention.

ALVARADO STREET BREWERY is at 426 Alvarado St., Monterey; Ocean and Mission, Carmel; 301 Main St., Salinas; 1315 Dayton St., Salinas. asb.beer.