Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA (USA) (Bottle)

Brewed by Belhaven (Greene King)
Style: American Pale Ale
Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland

Bottled. An amber beer with a huge light orange head. The aroma is sweet and quite hoppy with notes of grapefruit, thistle, grass, and some flowers. The flavor is sweet and very floral with notes of thistle, elderberryflowers, and some perfume, on a light caramel back ground, before the hops gain slightly in strength and comes along with notes of grapefruit and grass, leading to a nicely bitter end, after which the acidic grapefruit note lingers in the mouth.

From a 500 ml bottle purchased at "Kellar’s IGA" in Cincinnati, Ohio - This one pours a smokey golden brew with a tall, lasting head of foam and a hoppy aroma. Tastewise, it has a very nicemalty-caramel flavor with a sharp hops finish. Good beer.

Dark gold, verging on brown. Big rocky head. Nice floral, hoppy aroma, mixing with smooth bready, caramelly notes. Interesting flavor - flowers (?), licorace, toffee? I’m not sure. Perhaps an earthy, peaty flavor as well.

Cloudy orange pour. Short, white head. Floral, perfumey aroma, along with notes of grapefruit, orange, caramel and biscuits. Flavor is sweet and moderately bitter in the finish. The beer creates an illusion of smokiness or toasted grain in the finish. Medium body, smooth texture. Lively carbonation. Lingering, bitter finish.

Sampled March 2007
Pours with a brilliantly clear, copper color and is topped by a frothy, initially three-finger thick, light tan colored head that leaves some lacing on the sides of my glass. Hmm, the aroma smells cheesy and not in a good way. There are some pine-like hop notes underneath the cheesy notes and at times I can detect some citrus like lemon peel notes as well. Some biscuit like malt character is here as well. The cheesy notes don’t entirely dissipate, but they do get a touch better with time, though not really. The aroma just can’t shake that moldy cheddar character.

The taste is a bit better, lightly bitter with a zesty hop character. It finishes with a metallic, almost iron-like note. The bitterness is fairly subtle (especially if compared to an American IPA), but is still quite hoppy. Notes of menthol mix with pine, a touch of bergamot and even a hint of cinnamon to form the dominant hop flavors. The body of this beer is quite light, this could definitely be a sessionable brew if it wasn’t for that cheesy note. The cheese character really is quite subdued in the flavor (just so long as you aren’t particularly inhaling as you take a sip of this brew) and is only noticeable at times. Still the flavor finishes a bit too metallic and a bit too thin to really keep me interested.

Citrus lime hop aroma with a low caramel malt character. Citrus and smoke in the aftertaste. Medium-bodied copper ale. Not an ordinary IPA, definitely worthy of a try.

(on bottle)Very interesting mix of US hopping and UK malts. Along with the subtleness of scottich peat and smoke, this was quite a treat. Golden maber color, no head. Cleansing and fresh.

Poured into a snifter. Big hoppy head with a night orange color and great lacing. The smell is hops...(I guess that is the challenger hops...because it is a smell I haven’t encountered as of yet). A mild hoppy taste with carmel and citrus undertones. The taste disappates rather quickly and leaves a biscuity finish. My first IPA from across the pond.