Category Archives: American IPA

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Deschutes Brewery, USA

Deschutes Pinedrops IPA

Friday, 6 May 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Deschutes Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 6.5%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: 70 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Hints of pine and spruce. Clean malt and a crisp finish.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.15
My ratebeer.com rating: 3

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a best by date of 14th July 2016 and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear golden colour with a slightly less than three finger white head with decent retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Strong piney aromas with some light lemon peel and grass in the background.
Taste: Like the aroma, I get strong pine and lemon peel. Finish is lightly peppery with a lasting toasty bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, medium bodied with light carbonation.
Overall: This is a decent IPA with nice crispness, but its not my first choice IPA style.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Omnipollo x Tired Hands Brewing Co., Sweden

Omnipollo x Tired Hands Milkshake IPA

Monday, 2 May 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Omnipollo x Tired Hands Brewing Co.
Country: Sweden
ABV: 7%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: Brewed by Omnipollo at De Proef Brouwerij (Belgium)

Brewer Description: (from website) IPA brewed with oats, wheat and lactose sugar. Fermented atop strawberries and vanilla beans. Hopped intensely with Mosaic and Citra. We also added wheat flour to the boil. Brewed in collaboration with our friends at Tired Hands Brewing Co.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.16
My ratebeer.com rating: 2.9

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 23rd November 2016 and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: Actually I had to pour it twice. The first pour was going fine until three quarters in, suddenly there were some big blobs of sediment which appeared quite gross really. So I waited for it to settle a bit, before pouring that into another Spiegelau IPA glass with much less but only finer sediment. It was a hazy golden yellow colour with a one finger white head with some light lacing. As a note, after re-pouring, I let the first glass settle for about 10 minutes, and there was about a one finger layer of sediment on the bottom… it was a lot.
Aroma: Strong tropical fruitiness with guava, strawberry, mango and passionfruit with a hint of citrus orange peel.
Taste: Lightly sour strawberries with some bitterness but other than that, the flavours kind of disappeared.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: I don’t know if this batch that was sent to Hong Kong went bad or what not. I am fine with hazy and cloudy beers, but not big blob sediment which just does not look good. In addition, there was even A LOT of fine sediment. Other than that, aromas actually seemed great while the taste was disappointing especially when compared to #4:21 Raspberry Smoothie IPA which was stunningly good, and the slightly lesser but still good #4:11 Wild Strawberry/Rhubarb/Vanilla Smoothie IPA.

4 - Good (buy), American IPA, Beer Reviews, England, Siren Craft Brew

Siren Pompelmocello IPA

Thursday, 21 April 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Siren Craft Brew
Country: England
ABV: 6%
Style: American IPA

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This sour IPA is hopped with Enigma, Bravo and Apollo to create the biggest grapefruity hop profile we could muster, but we’ve also included grapefruit zest and juice for good measure. Added lactose rounds things off with a sweet and smooth touch.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.12
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 7th December 2016 and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a slightly hazy golden colour with a one finger white head that dissipated quickly but left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Intense fresh grapefruit and grapefruit juice aromas with some gummy bear candy orange and a hint of lime and pine.
Taste: Tart and sour mango with pomelo, grapefruit and orange in the background. However, the finish just drops off to nothing.
Mouthfeel: Tangy, light bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: I don’t get much bitterness from this IPA. Its much more sour than bitter and just seems more like a Berliner Weisse to me. I really liked the taste at the beginning and would have rated it higher if the finish was better. It really didn’t taste like much at the end. However, it’s very juice like and so very easy to drink. This was nice, but just missing a bit at the end.

4 - Good (buy), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, USA

Sierra Nevada Beer Camp (2016): Tropical IPA

Wednesday, 13 April 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 6.7%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: Beer Camp is the perfect way for us to experiment with new flavor directions in beer. Each spring, we feature our favorite collaboration from camp. This year’s selection blends intensely aromatic hop varietals to create an IPA filled with fruit aromas of mango and papaya.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This new equatorial IPA features intense hop varietals bursting with aromas reminiscent of island fruit, including notes of mango, papaya and bitter orange, for a tropical take on the IPA.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.77
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a packaged on date of 13th January 2016 and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear copper orange colour with a tall fluffy three finger+ off white head with good retention and lots of sticky lacing.
Aroma: Orange candy sweetness with citrus lemon, lime and pine with maybe a hint of pineapple and bready malts.
Taste: Starts sweet-ish pineapple, before turning bitter orange peel, mandarin, lemon and grapefruit pith. I suppose there is a hint of mango there in the aftertaste, but its really lingering far in the background.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: This was pretty good. The lasting lingering bitterness is nice. However if I’m thinking Tropical IPA, this is completely not what I would think of. Yes there was pineapple and some mango here and there but they were mostly in the background. It’s an IPA for sure, but I don’t think it’s a Tropical IPA. Having said that, I’d give this another go.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American IPA, Beer Reviews, England, The Wild Beer Co.

Wild Beer Madness IPA

Friday, 8 April 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: The Wild Beer Co.
Country: England
ABV: 6.8%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: Hops + Hops + Hops

Brewer Description: (from bottle) When Brett arrived from California he couldn’t believe there weren’t any of his beloved “West Coast IPA’s” readily available in the UK. This beer is his version of the style that sparked the craft beer revolution in the US. Open the bottle to a tropical punchbowl of aromas, as this beer is all about the hops. There are masses and masses of late hops and dry hops to maximise the beautiful flavours and aromas so you can experience wave after wave of tropical and citrus fruits. Navigate the rural lanes of Somerset where the orchards and pastures of the green and pleasant land are at their finest and you will find our unusual brewery in the midst of Cider and Cheddar country. Our friends at Westcombe Dairy make one of the finest Cheddar’s in the world and Madness balances its intensity and marries with its flavours.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.33
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.4

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 25th May 2016 and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a lightly cloudy golden orange colour with a one finger off white head that dissipated fairly quickly but left nice lacing.
Aroma: Citrusy candy orange and mandarin with hints of mango and pineapple.
Taste: Similar to the aromas. It starts with sweet candy orange and mandarin with some light pineapple. This was followed by strong grapefruit bitterness and grapefruit pith plus light caramel.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with mid to high carbonation.
Overall: This beer was ok. The main thing was that I did not enjoy the sweet beginning. The bitter finish was nice especially since it lasts. But I just got to get around the beginning first.

words of another dreamy traveller