Angel City India Pale Lager (IPL)

Formerly brewed at Angel City Brewing Company
Style: Strong Pale Lager/Imperial Pils
Los Angeles, California USA

Serve in Lager glass

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08-Mar-11 (22-oz bottle: Purchased 27-Jan-11 for $2.59 at BevMo in Escondido, CA)
Wow, after years of disappointments, here’s another pretty nice brew from Angel City – this is two in a row! Maybe it’s time to revisit this brewery and retry all their beers again? Called an India (style) Pale Lager, but it’s much more powerful than a pale lager, clocking in closer to the Imperial Pils category instead. The beer is very malty, with a medium-sweet, grainy flavor, and the hops are very grassy and medium-high in bitterness. There is a bit of huskiness to the malt flavor though, but all in all, this is a nice tasting beer. The nose shows a bit more of the husky, spent-grain character than the flavor does, but it’s generally grainy and grassy. Medium-full bodied on the palate with medium carbonation and a touch of husky dryness in the finish, and though on the sweet side, the beer still manages to be somewhat refreshing. The beer is slightly hazy and golden in color with just over half an inch of off-white head that settles to a wide ring and dusting. A ring of lace and some sporadic spots stick to the glass. Yeah, it’s not the best Imperial Pils I’ve ever had, but it’s still a pretty enjoyable beer.

Bottle from K&B. Pours a lightly hazed golden orange with a small creamy white head. Nose is slightly floral with faint hop notes. Slightly sweet on the palate, weird.

Clear light amber color/ ivory head. Mild grassy, white bread, yeasty, pale malt aromas. medium bodied. Decent dry pale malt, white bread, spicy hop flavors with a honey sweetness. Nice dry bitter finish.

Bomber from Valley Farm. Nose is a little hoppy. Somewhat pungent. Somewhat hoppy. Some spicy bitterness. Fairly well carbonated. Quite dry. Decent hoppiness. Not bad.

UPDATED: JAN 11, 2011 Bottle. Pours with a medium sized off-white head over a chill hazed orange body. Aroma of earthy and herbal (noble?) hops. Slightly spicy and faint citrus (and this is a brand new batch(first)/bottle). Spicy. Taste is dry, crisp, herbal, metallic, very bitter and spicy. Fizzy and crisp. I love IPL’s, but I wish this was more robust with American C-hops. 6/4/4/3/12:2.9

Rerate. Bottle from the brewer. Slightly hazed deep golden body with a medium sized, just off-white head. Aromas of grass, lemon and bread. Some almond paste (interesting). Flavors of are quite bitter, grassy and lemony. A bit of cereal in the finish. Somewhat astringent in the finish. Again, I am interested in what sort of a hop profile was the target for this one. Crisp and well attenuated for sure. An improvement over the last experience. Maybe I just have a different interpretation of what I look for in an IPL (or IPA). There is definitely the hop bitterness (lots of it), but not really the hop aroma or flavor I am craving.

On tap. Pours clear orange-gold, with a small white head. Nose is nothing much, some faint herbal hops, touch grassy, and grain. Body is nice and lager-crisp, with a short, quick finish. Flavor has grain and floral hops up front, but both are sort of muted, kind of like if you tossed a pilsner together with a pale ale. The idea is great, though I would personally like to see a beer with clean lager characteristics that are able to showcase fresh hop notes without the clutter of fruity ale yeast esters. OK.