Arbor 500 Minute IPA

Brewed by Arbor
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Bristol, England

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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Cask at Euston Tap. Amber colour, good white head. Citrussy nose, good bitter flavours. A bit fruity. Well-made potency, but still dangerously drinkable.

11th April 2012
On tap at the Euston Tap. Clear amber beer, tidy white head. Smooth silky palate. Good sweet malt base supports intense grassy hops. Liptons peach tea. Starts tangy but build in sweetness. Turns in to a sweet pine with a brief note of tropical fruits along the way. Finishes with grassy bitterness. Slightly warming. Quite a trip. The blackboard had a note next to this one that said BOOM! Indeed!

Air pressure cask at Euston Tap. clear amber colour thin white head. Cheese and hop aroma. Not a great aroma. Its then very arresting in moyh. Cheese toffee and harsh hop. I mean its not exactly pleasant but it will get you drunk. Syrupy. Nope. Just not for me

Cask gravity, Leicester BF, 08/03/12. Brilliant bronze with a skim of head. Deep blackcurrant, Tropical Starburst aroma, orange. Heat off the bat; blackcurrant and grapefruit sugared into fruit salad sweetness. Demolished biscuit. Hot alcohol finish ruling out a session. Good flavours but too hot for me.

Cask, Leicester Fest 12. Golden with a thin foam.  Aromas are caramel and toast malts with strong white wine notes.  Plummy with raisins and hints of floral honey.  Very peppery with strong booziness. Flavours are tropical fruit with strong marzipan booziness.  Base caramel malts with bitter lemon.  Cut right through my samosa - as an IPA should.  Reainous fruit with floral, green pine.  Very much like a barley wine. Very good.

Cask @ Cask Pub and Kitchen, Pimlico SW1. Pours a clear golden color with a small off-white head. Has a fruity malty hoppy bitter citrus aroma. Sweetish malty dry harsh hoppy bitter flavor. Has a fruity malty hoppy bitter finish with a very dry aftertaste with hints of alcohol.

For starters, I love the nose. Fresh and sweet and full of mangoes with a smattering of peppered banana. Pours copper with a very thin but persistant head. The taste - well, I hate to say it about the balance much as everyone else has, but it is a bit out of kilter. This is ok where the hoppiness is concerned, but where it loses the way is the sourness that spreads out across the tongue into a long, cloying finish. Very cloying. Ok, more of the sweet sharpness of the nose comes through and the floral hop acidity brings you back for another draught but over all, too much too feral. Points for the tongue-in-cheek adventurousness, but points off for the so-close-to-brilliant-but-so-not-quite disappointment.

Cask at CBC, London. Wow, what a divisive beer! Pours clear, rich golden-ruby with a small, soft white head. Deep pine, tree and earth aroma, with some ripe grapefruit. The flavor is intense. Very strong, rich. Sweet with some toasty bread. Very bitter. The first few sips really test one’s constitution. Then your mouth (and Spirit!) submit to the roughing and you trudge on. Full bodied with fine carbonation. Thick and resinous. Mild warm finish, some pine and thick sap, trees, earth, toast. Some salt, with ripe and pungent citrus fruits. Good stuff. Lasting grass and pine coat your tongue and throat. A journey, for sure.

Cask at Craft Beer Co., London. Clear pale amber, Orange liqueur aroma. Very sweet with intense salty tangerine flavour. Packed with orange liqueur. Salty, very peppery finish with loads of alcohol and high bitterness. Over the top by a mile.

UPDATED: DEC 20, 2011 Cask, The Sheffield Tap, Sheffield. Clear honey appearance, long lasting creamy head. Aroma of mandarin and golden syrup. Thick and boozey, sweet with a mellowness. Honey and more fruit mingle with booze and spice on the finish.

Massively bitter and huge hop punch. Taste is sour and bitter - think I like it but it’s a challenge