Thomas Hooker Hop Meadow IPA

Brewed by Thomas Hooker Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Bloomfield, Connecticut USA

pours a dark amber color. not getting a big hop wallop aroma. taste is bitter almost barleywine. maybe this has sat for too long. still not bad just not floral or citrusy enough for me.

Very nice offering from Thomas Hooker. Grassy, hay and not overly sweet are my take on this very drinkable IPA. As a hophead, like the change that this brew delivers. Extremely smooth and creamy, perfect for sipping while watching the grill and listening to Jimmy Cliff!

Nice amber colour and generous head with a vigorous pour. Nose has a panopoly of hop aromas, bright juicy and citrusy. On the palate there’s a good mix of biscuity sweet malt with the citrusy hops, and not one particular fruit is able to be pinned down. Enough complexity to keep it interesting but also nicely drinkable.

12 oz bottle poured into a pint glass. Orange-amber color with a beige creamy head. Cascade and Chinook hops make this a hugely grapefruity beer in aroma and taste, but there is a fair amount of sweet caramely malt to go with it. Sweet overall, with a nice bitterness. Rich mouthfeel, good but more of a hoppy red/amber.

bottle. dark copper crown, off-white ring. munich malt, cedar shavings, peanuts and cherry cough syrup all over this thing. astringent and weak malt, excessive carbonation is overly rough and harsh on the tongue. soured cherries and plum pits with munich malt caramel/maple/toffee/tobacco is downright revolting.

Far too much diacetyl for an IPA. The buttery taste and mouthfeel was far too overpowering to appreciate the otherwise well-balanced hop and malt profile of this potentially decent beer.

Bottle from joshuahfl. Pours a clear ruddy copper with a foamy off-white head. Aroma of light roast caramel and some floral hop. Medium body with near chewy carbonation. It’s roast caramel and mostly floral hop. Could be ESB. Bitter is there but not huge. Quite a nice beer.

From a 12oz bottle. Pours a cloudy amber with small white head which lingers. Pretty assertive floral nose. Strangely enough, I also get a little bit of the smell of steamed broccoli (thank you, suggestions in the blue column). Maybe citrus as well? For an IPA there’s a pretty sweet note that carries through this. The border between Pale Ale and IPA is pretty gray -- this, to me, tastes more Pale Ale than a Sierra Nevada. It’s fairly heavy with quite a smooth finish that blends hops and malt well. This is a great beer that you can enjoy as a single, or as a great session beer. What’s particularly nice about this is just how well it embraces this middle area between the over-assertive american IPA style and the often far too passive Pale Ale type. This IPA should appeal to a broad audience.