Tag Archives: 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.

5 - Excellent (must buy), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Garage Project, New Zealand

Garage Project Death From Above

Wednesday, 6 April 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Garage Project
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 7.5%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: Brewed with mango, Vietnamese mint and chili. Hops – Centennial, Amarillo and Citra.

Brewer Description: (from can) An Indochine Pale Ale inspired by the heat and freshness of South East Asian flavours and the high citrus intensity of American hops. Death From Above combines mango, Vietnamese mint, lime and chili with Centennial, Amarillo and Citra hops. This is a beer of balance rather than conflict with bitter-sweet heat and citrus character.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.45
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 330ml can with a best before date of 19th August 2016 and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear copper amber colour with just over a one finger off white head that dissipates slowly but leaves nice lacing.
Aroma: Tropical fruit strong with mango, pineapples and peach floating about with some light citrus and chili.
Taste: Very interesting. Not at all what I expected but in a good way. Grapefruit bitterness and caramel start strongly before slowly being lightly muted by a refreshing cooling mint coating, some tropical mango and ever so light chili spice.
Mouthfeel: Mid to light bodied with light to medium carbonation.
Overall: An excellent brew. Very balanced between the hop bitterness, cooling mint and light spiciness. The carbonation was on the low side to what I prefer, but the cooling mint helps to rectify this. I loved this… must buy again in my book.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American IPA, Beer Reviews, BrewDog, Scotland

BrewDog Elvis Juice

Tuesday, 5 April 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: BrewDog
Country: Scotland
ABV: 6.5%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: Grapefruit infused IPA.

Brewer Description: (from can) Break out the rhinestone suit, gas up the Cadillac, and take this fruit farm for a test drive down Sunset Strip. Packing more fruit than the State of California, our citrus caped crusader will obliterate your senses. A zest zenith on the nose. Fruity foreplay gives way to an all out sensory assault. A truckload of grapefruit, orange and peach collide in an inter-state pile up. A fruity, hoppy cocktail of flavour builds to a crescendo and a bitter finale leaves you screaming for more. Elvis has left the building. Pay homage to the bejewelled Beelzebub of fruity IPAs. A hopped up power ballad for the twenty first century. The King is back and he’s juiced up and ready to roll. Elvis Juice, the absolute King in a world of wannabes.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.84
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 330ml can with a best before date of 2nd March 2017, poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a perfectly clear copper colour with a two finger off white head that dissipated slowly and left nice stringy lacing.
Aroma: Wonderful strong candy mandarin, orange and grapefruit aromas.
Taste: Some intense hard candy blood orange sweetness! Following the candy sweetness, there was some light grapefruit and bready malt but it was not particularly hoppy for an IPA.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: I loved the aroma which reminded me of those fruit hard candies. It tasted interesting, more sweet than expected and I prefer my IPAs to have more hoppy bitterness and less malt. Overall, it was not bad.

words of another dreamy traveller