Alaskan IPA

Brewed by Alaskan Brewing Co
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Juneau, Alaska USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

The Alaskan IPA has a beautiful golden color. The first taste is a relaxing malty presence followed my the sharp hoppy finish that makes this IPA so delicious.

Bottle 355ml
Pours clear golden with a white head. Aroma has notes of malt, pine, grassy and floral hops. Taste is light to medium sweet and medium bitter. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft.

Clear golden pour with small eggy head, Nose is piney hops. Medium body. Clean, bitter, and easy to drink. Quick bitter finish. Good session beer.

On tap at Phyllis’s Cafe and Salmon Bake, Anchorage. Cloudy amber to orange-brown body, thick puffy off-white head. Nose of bitter pine and citrus rind (grapefruit), resinous, backed by caramel and breads. Potent sugary body with citrusy, piny, resinous hops and fleshy peach pit. Sweet, sticky, prickly, and potent. Nice.

This is a nice, well balanced IPA. Pours gold with moderate carbonation. Quite dry with little aftertaste. Priced better than most.

A reasonable pour into my 25cl tulip glass yields a three-finger thick, lightly tanned, off-white colored head. The beer is a brilliantly clear, copper color that only gets brighter when held up to the light. Aromatically expressive in its hoppiness, the hop character is quite noticeable as I pour and visually inspect the beer. Grapefruit, big lychee and tangelo are noticeable aromatics up front with follow on, slightly reduced in intensity, aromas of pine sap and herbal hop notes. The finish also has a nice, toasty grain character to it reminiscent of biscuit malt and crushed saltine crackers, though the hops do a good job of drowning out any malt influence. As the beer warms a bit some fruitier notes of apricot and light tropical fruit become a bit more noticeable.

Lightly sweet malt and a malt fullness is quickly overtaken by a dominant, though not scathing, green, herbal hop component. The flavor has a more even balance between citrus and herbal / pine hop influences, though the citrus just edges out the others. Flavors of grapefruit, bitter orange zest, candied orange peel, apricot and lychee are more noticeable up front, while a sharp, herbal, mix of menthol-pine and hop bitterness seem to be quite a bit more noticeable towards the finish; each of these notes is noticeable throughout the flavor profile at some level though. Fizzy carbonation and a light-medium heft keep this quite drinkable and perfectly inline with the quaffability of an IPA.

This is a nice hop-focused IPA, I almost wish for a bit more malt character, but there is just enough to support the hops and any more would likely intrude and the eminent drinkability that this, dry beer achieves.

Purchased: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Liquors, Tucson AZ

Pale golden with a small white head. Jammy, peachy aroma, undertones of oranges and caramel. Medium body and a light hoppy mouthful... feels like a pretty light interpretation of an IPA. Bitterness is pretty restrained right through. Nice pleasant fruity flavours, amarillo perhaps, zesty fresh finish... very nice to drink.

aroma:carmel and resin appearance:pale amber with white head flavor:light sweetness and bitterness palate:smooth body,creamy texture,average carbonation,bitter finish overall: enjoyed the interplay of sweetness and bitterness,resin and fruit with a velvety smooth mouth feel.