3.8 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
UPDATED: JAN 13, 2012 On tap at Cheers. Light copper color with a thin head. Aroma: quite hoppy, with light malts. Light rye feel in the mouth. Good maltiness, caramel and fruity, but light. Great hops.
3.9 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
At the Nakameguro Taproom. Pours cloudy with small bubbles. Thin creamy head. Gold, the color of pitch resin. Floral hop aroma. Flavor of sweet honey with ruby red grapefruit.
3.4 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 15/20
Spicy rye and cinammon notes hit the nose with just a touch of citrus. Spicy, fruity, fig, citrusy mouth. Lingering bitterness. Rye is nice, but I didn’t find the beer particularly balanced - odd given that all other Baird beers are balanced, even if I don’t like them.
3.7 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
Light copper color. Light citrus, malts, some spicy tones, a little rye in the aroma. Very mellow flavor. Light hops, malty though I wouldn’t say English style, grapefruit, no rye to speak of. Smooth bodied. I was a little dissapointed in the lack of rye as I usually am in rya ales, but besides that it’s a good, mellow, easy drinking IPA.
(Draught during Nakameguro IPA festival)
3.5 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 13/20
Although I’m not a huge fan of Baird beers, I attended their 10 day IPA fest and was really blown away by 2 of the six that I drank. Brewmaster’s Nightmare (great name) was one of the six that I had that night...it was, in fact, the final pint...so by that point in time it tasted fine...but I needed another shot to determine how it might really be. Found a bottle at Tanakaya and lugged it homeward to put it under scrutinization. Colour was a dark cloudy amber orange haze with a very citrus-like and hoppy nose. Flavour was straddling the line between hops and wheat with some overtones of very strong Earl Grey tea. A bitter finish that lingers yet does not overwhelm. A solid and interesting IPA, no question, but not exactly taking me places I want to go.
3.8 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
UPDATED: JAN 20, 2012 Wow the nose is a joy to behold. A floral bouquet of hoppy joy. The mouthful unfortunately is a little thin, which detracts from the flavour. The malts are solid here, as is the hops on top. If this were a little more full bodided they would truly be on to a world class beer here. Lets hope they tinker with this and improve it next year! 2012 version. Excellent, excellent IPA. Lots of citrus and a bit spicy. Could be drier, but that’s a minor quibble.
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