3.7 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20
UPDATED: JAN 25, 2007 Draught at the brew pub. Slightly hazy, orange color with two fingers of off white head that left a nice lacing on the glass. Attractive aroma of sprucy, grapefruity hops. Slightly sweet up front with sprucy hop flavor and only mild hop bitterness. Nice malty caramel and grapefruity hop finish. I liked.
2.3 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 4/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 8/20
From the tap, served in a standard bar pint glass. Made a decent appearance, poured a clear reddish amber with a small foamy off-white head, moderate carbonation. Had a clean nose, sweet fruity and malty, no real hop aromas. A semi-crisp smooth, somewhat watery, light bodied mouth feel, below average drinkability. Sweet grape fruity taste, the most subdued hop presence, no real bitterness, a dry fruity and malty finish with no hop presence or bitterness. I don’t know if fruitiness was from the hops, I know there are some hops that can be grape fruity, but this just lacked the hoppy qualities one would expect from an IPA. After sampling the APA and dry-hopped APA, this was a big disappointment, at first I thought maybe the brewer was trying for a English IPA, but still lacking a hop presence, only one conclusion, this is a below average American IPA. Needs body, carbonation and hops to be a decent IPA. This is a new small batch offering, so I hope this is a work in progress, not really ready for public consumption. $4.00 for a pint and $6.25 for a mug.
3.6 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
I really liked the aroma of this light amber ale. It smelled of tart oranges and tangerines blended with soft caramel. The flavor is fruity, sweet/tart, with tangerines, oranges, and a slowly building citric bitterness that lasts long into the finish. This is advertised as a 60 IBU IPA, but I think the sweetness covers it too much More hops, please! <font size=-4><a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? River Brewing Company, Moline, IL<font size=-1>
2.6 AROMA 3/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 12/20
On tap. Honey in color and no head to speak of. No real aroma that I could discern. Only reason I’m giving it a 3 is because no aroma is better than a foul aroma. Slightly fruity hop bitterness to it, but the hops just seemed muddled by something. The hops didn’t seem as crisp or refreshing as some other IPAs I’ve had. Thin palate, dry finish. I liked their Dry Hopped Ale a lot more than this one.
|
