Category Archives: American IPA

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project, USA

Crooked Stave Hop Savant (Citra)

Monday, 27 February 2017 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: American IPA

Brewer Description: (from bottle) American brettanomyces India Pale Ale with Citra.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.22
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.1

Intro: A 375ml bottle, bottled in May 2015. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A clear golden yellow colour (as there’s still a lot left in the bottle) with a huge rather uncontrollable frothy white head that dissipates slowly while leaving a fair bit of soapy lacing.
Aroma: Band-aid, barnyard, brett, citrus lemon and apricot plus hints of pineapple.
Taste: Lots of brett, band-aid, leather, pepper spiciness, orange peel and apricot.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: There’s just a lot of funky brett with some light fruit sweetness towards the end. For me, it just seemed to be missing some tart and sour fruit to help balance out the flavours a bit.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Founders Brewing Company, USA

Founders Azacca India Pale Ale

Friday, 17 February 2017 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Founders Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: 70 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from packaging) Named after the Haitian God of Agriculture. The Azacca hop has an intense tropical aroma with hints of citrus and mango. A touch of caramel malt gives a sweet backbone to support the righteous fruit character of this beer. Pouring a burnt orange color and registering at 7.0% ABV. Your taste buds will worship this heavenly, hopped delight.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.77
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a best by date of 10th May 2017. Poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: A clear copper orange colour with a big three finger off white head that had great retention and lacing.
Aroma: Mango, pineapple, orange and pine with lingering citrus rind and zest.
Taste: Sweet caramel malts with tropical mango and pineapple, followed by pine and bitter citrus rind and zest. There’s also a touch of herbal and floral element on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to light carbonation.
Overall: This was a decent IPA, but a touch on the sweet side for me as I prefer nice long lasting bitterness.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American IPA, Ballast Point Brewing Company, Beer Reviews, USA

Ballast Point Big Eye IPA

Monday, 6 February 2017 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Ballast Point Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: 84 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from website) The beer that helped put San Diego IPA’s on the map. Our Big Eye IPA is a big hoppy brew, thanks to the abundance of American Columbus and Centennial varieties we use to flavor and dry hop. While the English originally added extra hops to preserve their beers for sea travel, we do it for the love of all that bold, intense flavor that makes India Pale Ale one of our favorite styles.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.76
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a Julian bottled on date of 16327, meaning it was bottled on 22nd November 2016. Poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: A clear copper colour with a big three finger off white head that had decent retention and eventually settled to a fluffy layer while leaving nice lacing.
Aroma: Pine, grapefruit zest and orange with touches of caramel malt.
Taste: Bitter grapefruit zest, orange rind and pine balanced with some lightly sweet biscuit and caramel malt.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to light carbonation.
Overall: A nice and balanced IPA that I wouldn’t mind drinking more of.

1 - Poor (never again), American IPA, Beer Reviews, England, The Wild Beer Co.

Wild Beer Evolver IPA

Saturday, 24 December 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: The Wild Beer Co.
Country: England
ABV: 5.8%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: Hops + Brettanomyces + Hops

Brewer Description: (from bottle) We believe exceptional brewing stems from imagination and passion, it’s not just a process. By embracing our love of wild yeast strains and not being confined by rules, tradition or ingredients, we can add a Wild 5th ingredient or process to our beers. We want to give you a truly memorable drinking experience, altering your perceptions and thrilling your taste buds. Drink Wildly Different.
The exploration of yeast strains and the different results we can achieve are beautifully exemplified in Evolver, a pale ale with a difference. 100% fermented with brettanomyces, a naturally occurring wild yeast. For the first 3 months the beer tastes the same as a fresh pale ale, then the differing flavour compounds start to shine through and after 6 months the brett really takes hold.
The brettanomyces yeast is particularly good at keeping hop flavours fresh for far longer than traditional brewing yeasts. The Evolver takes on a more complex character over time as the yeast and the hops combine to produce a new and exciting beer that will continue to evolve as the yeast slowly matures the beer.
This is a beer that can be drink fresh, as a normal pale ale should be, or left to evolve and mature into a unique and unusual beer.

My rating: 1
My beeradvocate.com rating: 2.91
My ratebeer.com rating: 2.7

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 26th June 2017. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden orange with a two finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly but leaves nice lacing.
Aroma: Generally quite light, but what I do get is light funk and brett with some tropical peach and mango and maybe a touch of orange.
Taste: Funky, brett, light pepper spice, moderate bitterness, some lemon and hints of peach.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nope, I didn’t get this one. Aroma while too light, was nice, but everything else just didn’t really go with each other and just seemed out of sync.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American IPA, Australia, Beer Reviews, Pirate Life Brewing

Pirate Life IPA

Tuesday, 6 December 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Pirate Life Brewing
Country: Australia
ABV: 6.8%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: Malts – Pale Malt, Munich and Crystal. Hops – Centennial, Riwaka and Simcoe

Brewer Description: (from website blog) Up until now if you wanted to step up from our Pale Ale you would have to reach for a trusty tall boy of our IIPA. While we would baulk at the suggestion that this is ever a bad thing, there are times where one wants to drink at least four beers without feeling like they have just gone round for round with Boony on a plane trip back from London. So we are happy to announce we have finally bridged the ABV gap with the release of our fourth core range beer: The Pirate Life IPA. Sitting nicely between our Pale Ale and IIPA at 6.8% ABV the IPA has a gentle orange hue and a round, full bodied malt character care of Pale Malt, Munich and Crystal. With our Pale Ale and IIPA having withdrawn most of our funds from the dank bank we thought it was time to make a beer that brought something a little different to the table. Chock full of Centennial, Riwaka and Simcoe our IPA is bright, fruity and full of liquid fun.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.97
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 355ml can with a best before date of 21st June 2017. Poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy amber orange colour with a big three finger cream coloured head that had decent retention and left some light lacing.
Aroma: Piney, citrus grapefruit with a hint of tropical mango.
Taste: Bitter citrus grapefruit and orange, a touch of pine and toasty biscuit malt.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: A nice refreshing IPA with great aromas.

words of another dreamy traveller