Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA (USA) (Bottle)

English IPA’s should have a different category than American IPA’s. Heck, even within the USA the IPA’s differ based on the location. This is a good, decent, ENGLISH IPA. Nose is slightly sour malt, and a little bit of hop aroma. This stuff does have excellent mouthfeel, however - so it’s not a bad APA. Very creamy to the tongue. Poured amber with biscuit head. A quick note - drink this at cellar, not refrigerator. At cellar it is a very complex beer with notes of wood, elm, and even manzanita.

Bottled. Poured a cloudy, fiery orange with a short white head... nice lacing, and lots of floaties. Aroma seemed a bit watery and consisted of orange, grapefruit, and a little sticky caramel. Caramel was tacky in the mouth, but the hops just slid through there, lacking depth and excitement. Finish was of citrus hop and a little caramel malt. Felt uninspired overall. American no, english yes

Murky orange. A sweet hoppy aroma. Some head. Harsh. A blast of flavor but no particularly good flavor. Bitter. Sour.

My first Belhaven beer was their Scottish Ale which is one of the finest examples of the Scottish ale style. When I happened to stumble across their Twisted Thistle IPA, I just had to try it. I love IPAs and I had been impressed with Belhaven’s ability to produce a good beer with the Scottish Ale so I figured I was taking a win-win risk.
I love it when I am right.
Twisted Thistle from Belhaven poured a bright sunny orange with a hint of cloudiness in the body. A rich head at least a finger thick forms and eventually settles down into a soft layer on top of my beer. With each swirl, she leaves delicate brussels lace along my glass and the head on top of my brew puffs up even more. In the nose is a sunrise of sweet resiny pine notes with sap-like aromas with hints of orange. Her body is rich and frothy with a full mouthfeel buoyed by a pleasant effervescence. Definitely more chewy mouthfeel then other previous IPAs I have quaffed, and rather enjoyable actually. Gentle notes of orange zest linger in the background while sweet pine and sap notes bring this IPA right to the forefront of my tastebuds. A light and slightly dry finish which still manages to linger, showing off her luscious hop oils. Later on, a hint of spice mingles amidst the overall oily piney sweet grass and bitter orange zing at the finish. A very quaffable IPA of which I could easily enjoy another.

Bottle from By the Bottle in Vancouver, WA--Poured a golden-orange body with a fluffy quickly dissipating head. Lots of nuttiness and grass bittering hops in nose, rounded out with a creamy sweet malt presence. Flavor is less bitter than nose. Mildly fruity, medium bodied and a little uneventful, though well-balanced and quite enjoyable.

(bottled) Big, but vanishing fluffy, white head and clear amber-golden body. The aroma is full of hops, and grass, but it also has some sweetness. I can taste the hops, but it is not really very bitter; slightly sweet, very refreshing. The finish is dry though, and has more hop bitterness. Light to medium bodied. Not what I expected, but quite good. Tasty, but it’s hard to call it an IPA.

Quickly descending head that leaves a faire lacing. It has a nice light amber body. Doughy and citrusy aroma. The taste is slightly sour, but overall mostly malty. There is some hop presence, but not enough for it to be called an IPA. This beer tastes mostly like a good ESB. Slightly sweet and bitter elements, with a metallic finish.

Lovely honey color, average head, mild lacing, pleasant non floral nose, a bit thin in the palate. Light on bitterness in keeping with its place of creation. Pleasant enough, but somewhat light for my palate.