12 oz single thanks to Rob. Light , golden orange body with an initially, big rocky head that leaves some nice sticky lace. Slight haze/cloudiness. Nose and tastes are typically English in terms of the biscuity malts and the relatively restrained hop profile. I think that this is a slightly older bottle, so it may be that these attributes are a function of some time, and earlier on this beer was more "American" in its feel. Light metal in the finish, but this adds to the clean feel associated...
Notes on beers in the style
English India Pale Ale (IPA)
India Pale Ale
12 oz single, from PittBeerGirl as part of my secret bunny 2010. Nice, authentic orange body with a good head initially but it fades pretty quickly. Not much lace either. Light hops in the nose that are replicated with more force in the tastes. Quite sweet, so lots of malts must back up the hop profile. The alcohol is very well hidden and would not have guessed this was 7.00%. The finish also has some residual sugar. The malt base, the relatively low alcohol taste and the sweetness, certainly...
400 Pound Monkey
12 oz single from Hop City, Atlanta, GA, USA. My worry with all beers that start life in the USA and claim to be "English" style, is that we will get over-hopped products with alcohol that is too high and malt profiles that are insufficiently developed. This beer confirmed my reservations on two of those but did better on one. Decent copper body with good clarity and a nice white head that is well retained and leaves good lace. The appearance was the strongest suit in this beer for me. It's...
IPA
500 mL bottle that was $4.99 purchased on a recent visit to Asheville, NC, USA. For some reason, although we get a few Ridgeway beers in Georgia, this one has never shown up. Delighted to get my hands on it. Pour is a very light golden body underneath a high, well retained, lace producing, white head. Surprising level of carbonation (perhaps too much). Nose and tastes gives the classic biscuit soft malts. This is followed by that typical, subtle hop bitterness which lingers and leaves the...
HopFish
12 oz single thanks to nerofiddled for the chance to try this one. Great clarity on the copper colored body and some bone-white lace with better than average retention and lace. A nice combo on the nose of some fruit and well balanced sweet malts and hops. Malty and biscuity, the hops are subtle in this beer and for intents and purposes this is an English IPA. It lacks the harsh, upfront aggression that the American version of the style often has, and in that respect some will probably be...
Wild Goose India Pale Ale
Purchased as a single from (I think) Total Wine, Kennesaw, GA, USA. 12 oz bottle. Standard pale orange cloudiness with a small but dense ivory head. Some lace. Turbid body. No presence, no nose, no point really. Lifeless body and largely tasteless beer. I dunno, this seems like a token gesture for a beer that simply doesn't cut it in any way shape or form. It does not get offensive at any point, but apart from a light bitterness in the finish it sort of reminds me of a bad homebrew! It's...
Cold Hop British-Style Ale
12 oz single from Mac's Midtown, Atlanta, GA, USA. Part of the (now) $8.99 mixed sixer. "British style"?? We'll see! Beautiful clarity on the golden pour. Nice carbonation and a decent amount of head, lace and retention. Looks nice. Very light grassy, organic and floral type hops that greet the nose and palate simultaneously. Nice, easy going package upfront. Tasty and simple are the watch-words here. Mild hop bite in the back end with a reserved dry character. This does hit a nice note in as...
Atlantic IPA
Fantasic beer with a decent ABV (considering the style) that manages to combine both a refreshing, summer drinking type ability along with one of the more satisying experiences of a "lighter" beer. A combination of four hop varities goes into the beer, which although not necessarily easy to detect as individual notes, do lend a certain complexity to the brew. A light citrus note is first followed by some deeper soapy like notes. The malt cuts across the whole beer to leave a satisfying...
Great Lakes Commodore Perry IPA
12oz single. Very, very light, golden yellow pour with soapy film of a head. The color is really unusual. Minimal lace. Mild citrus hops in the nose. Some sweetness as well. Sweetened grapefruit makes up the sharp hop profile. Balanced quite well. Quite a bit of sugary sweetness rather than a malt experience. Very simple beer, but tasty to boot. I'd prefer a lower ABV to make it a bit more sessionable, but having said that, the beer does not show the alcohol very much. Good stuff if you are...
Fiddler’s Green India Pale Ale
As a single from Total Wine in Charleston, SC, USA. 12oz bottle. Pour is a very, very light orange hue that quite frankly looks a bit watery. Head goes quickly to leave a soapy film and some decent lace. Some organic, grass based hops in the nose. Floral above everything else. Taste is really quite bitter, and not in a good way. Sharply acid based and finishes with a orange rind acidity that sits poorly with me. A bit weak in the mouth. Leaves a dry sensation. Some soapy bitterness in the...
Hoppy Otter IPA
Delighted to discover this sitting at Green's on Ponce, Atlanta, GA, USA. $3.99 for the 500 mL bottle. Attractive bottle and nice green label complete the presentation. Noisy pour into the shaker pint yelds a bright, clear amber body, soapy head and some lace. Looks very nice. The label boasts the combination of spring water from the river Otter in Devon (a few miles from my birthpalce and home), English floor malts, their own yeast and whole cone hops from the West Coast of the USA. This...
Old Empire
From notes taken in England in July 2007. Cheers Chris! 500 mL, splendid looking clear glass bottle. Quite why this is listed as an American IPA I'm not sure, but I know that subject can get people all excited (What was the original IPA? Where does the modern IPA sit? What about Burton? What about DIPA's? What about subtlety? etc. etc.) so I think I leave that alone here. Pale orange pour, nice soapy head. Soapy notes in the nose and initial tastes. Apparently the hopping process uses the...
Proper Job
The phrase "Proper Job" is a Cornish one meaning "good job" or "well done". My Cornish father would use it all the time when I was growing up. Proper Job the beer, is a relatively strong English IPA. Plenty of hop character here from the the nose all the way through to the finish. despite this it's a pretty light drinker in the tradition on English IPA's. Some grapefruit in the nose and simple, biscuit malts back up the hop profile. I really go the most from this beer when I drank it when...
Marks & Spencer India Pale Ale
Picked this up at the Exeter M&S as a gift pack that included one bottle, one decent looking, etched glass mug and a nice stainless steel opener for the knockdown price of 1 GBP as a clearance item from Father's Day! Lovely jubbly. Decent amber colored pour with some good head that surprised me with its level of retention. Body looks substantial. Simple hop profile, put together with plenty of malts to back it up. Quintessentially "English" in flavor with plenty of sweetish malts meaning that...
Sleeman IPA (46* / Presents India Pale Ale)
12 oz single, $1.69, Jax, Sandy Springs, GA, USA. Pale pour with a little too much yellow color as opposed to orange hue for my liking. Some half-decent head and lacing make up for the lack of color a little bit. A little grainy in the nose. Looking through the reviews for this beer I get the feeling that there is a pattern. To me this is a decent enough, simple English IPA with mild hop bitterness and a tiny bit of lingering grapefruit in the finish. Good malt balance is present too....
Bad Elf
$4.99, Reilly's, Hilton Head, SC, USA. Simple orange pour with good clarity, nice, rocky head and very good lacing. A simple and effective English IPA. Good grassy, fresh hop nose - clean and strong, with the taste reflecting that aroma. Mild grapefruit bitterness, nicely balanced with a little biscuit malt that finishes dry and bitter exactly as an ale of this description should. Reminds me aof better cask ales, and the alcohol is very well hidden. Lots of session possibilities despite the...
St. Peter’s India Pale Ale
As far as I can tell this is relatively new to the US. The St. Peter's "flask" bottle remains a classic. Green's, Ponce de Leon, Atlanta, GA, USA. I suspect that this beer is going to be horribly misuderstood in the USA. People without the knowledge or experience of an ENGLISH IPA will think that this is just too light and not hoppy enough. The mistake that they will be making is that the English (original) version of the IPA is always going to be more balanced and understated, without feeling...
India Pale Ale
On draft at Mellow Mushroom in Lexington with BEERchitect. Very good value at about $2.00 a pint! Fairly standard looking in terms of the color, but the head & lacing was superb. The lacing was both extensive and sticky. Aroma was overwhelmingly that of orange zest. Delicious to look and to smell. I'd surprised if these attributes could be reproduced quite so well in the bottle. In terms of taste it drank like a quality American micro IPA. Nothing really special, but solid, realiable everyday...
Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA
Liquor Barn purchase, Lexington, KY as a 500 mL bottle. UnGodly amount of sediment in the pour. Sediment fails to settle well, and as a result this is a pretty unattractive pint. Nice head and some super lacing - this is NOT an easy beer to give an appearance score to! Aroma is muted sweet malts. A DEFINITE smokiness! Odd. Tastes are somewhat typically "British" IPA with a distinct lack of hops (I've been in the USA too long!) Finishes dry, but that's OK since the malts earlier in the drink...
Sierra Nevada India Pale Ale
On-tap, Taco Mac, Decatur, GA, USA. Hazed orange pour with a fluffy head and good lacing. Grapefruit notes are immediately apparent in the nose and this manifests itself on the palate quickly too. Green hop bitterness is consistent, and does not fade, and makes this a very drinkable, session type consistent ale. Solid representation of the American take on an IPA, with plenty of hoppiness not afraid to hide. Refreshing too, with a short and sharp bite in the finish. Clean too. As is often the...
Brooklyn East India Pale Ale
$4.50 on draft, Taco Mac, The East West Connector, Atlanta, GA, USA. Pale orange. Small head with little or no lacing. Sweet, clean and refreshing. A simple, but a tasty and satisfying IPA, nice on draft and in the bottle. Great sessionable potential in terms of the taste, but a 7.00% ABV might prove a bit strong. Really good staple.
India Pale Ale
OK, I'm slightly confused. I know that this was originally only released in the USA since the brewer thought that the best place for a large IPA to be appreciated would be on this side of the pond. The logic presumably being that a big hop bomb would be a little too much for contemporary English taste buds - OK, fair enough, it all makes sense so far, but when I taste this, that logic goes out of the window. Don't get me wrong, I love this beer, but because it was initially reserved for the...
Bitter & Twisted
Very, very light color for the style with a golden color and good carbonation. Some decent lacing but not very special. Hoppy bitterness up front, this drinks and looks very much like a decent Pilsner. Very, very odd indeed in terms of the style. Peppery bitterness in the nose and reflected in the taste. Finishes rather dry with a hop twang. Don't really understand this as an ESB, but there you go. EDIT: Changed from ESB category on 2/4/06.
Flagship IPA
Classic orange color, but lacking in body. Pretty good lacing with lots of soapy character. Floral and oily hops make up the nose and the taste but the aroma lacks depth. A real light drinker, which is OK, but if you like some decent body and depth in your IPA you will probably be disappointed.
Burton Bridge Empire India Pale Ale
This had it all for me. Tasty, fruity and alcoholic, a hop edge and a malt backbone. One of the most complicated, and complex beers that I have drunk in a long time. Orange body with a big frothy head with nice retention and some lacing. It stimulates the taste buds from all angles. There is a very unexpected fruit backbone that compliments the sweet malts and the surprisingly hoppy ending character too. A long, long finish that takes you through the sense spectrum, and a decent alcohol kick...
Lost Sailor India Pale Ale
Really attractive dark orange color, nice frothy head with some lacing and some retention. Good, citrus based hops in the nose and the initial tastes, that give way to some nice smooth character and a sting in the long finish. A little smoky aftertaste. Very drinkable, and a solid mouthfeel that is substantial enough to make you feel like you are having a beer. Seems to drink above the advertised 5.5% ABV. Rounded and satisfying, a nice experience. Good solid example of the style, being true...
Fuller’s India Pale Ale
Much more of a classic, English IPA than the hoppier, stronger American versions, this is yet another example of a finely crafted brew that, if it is to be appreciated fully, one needs to understand the style and understand the art of subtle beer brewing. The flavors here are much sweeter and maltier than many American drinkers expect from an IPA, and as a result, many Stateside will probably not enjoy as much as others. Lovely balanced nose and hops, with a certain earthy, organic quality. I...
Samuel Smith’s India Ale
In the light of the "kick you in the balls", over the top-hopped nature of so many (especially American) IPA's these days, I suspect that this beer is going to disappoint many. Of course, the reason that others will find it a let down, is the same reason that I enjoyed it so much. Subtlety and balanced are in the brew in abundance and its better for it. This is its main strength. A light orange colored pour, typical for your general IPA and a modest but well formed head meet the eye. The...
Brooklyn East India Pale Ale
One of a split sixer from Jax, Sandy Springs, Atlanta, GA, USA and subsequently in the Brooklyn mixed 12 pack. Very pale color, even for an IPA. The pour leaves a small head with little or no lacing. Very pale orange color and lots of clarity. Aroma has more sweetness and malt than expected, and not much hop character. This is an especially dry IPA on my palate, with a very clean feel about it. Characteristic citrus hops and nose, with grapefruit being dominant. The finish is also dry and...