Big Sky IPA

Brewed by Big Sky Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Missoula, Montana USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

bottle at home ... copper sweet creamy toffee malts .nose .. big hop ... sweet malts ... little but not much of the pale hop ... little orange peel ... quite well balanced

12 oz. bottle from Beer On The Wall. Bottled on July 28, 2009 per the numbers on the bottle: 209094 (209th day of 2009 according to the brewery). Anyway, on to the review. Pours copper and orange in color with a medium-sized off-white head. Aroma of grapefruit, tangerine, and caramel. Very good citrus hop bitterness and very well balanced. To me, the palate is a bit thinner than I had hoped but overall it’s a minor complaint. This is a very well done, and very well-balanced IPA.

Pours an amber color with a minimal white head. Smell is hoppy, with some citrus as well as pine. There is also a little bit of caramel malt in the smell. The flavor is predominantly hops, with grapefruit being the easiest flavor to pick out. There is also some more malt in the flavor. Overall, a fairly well balanced IPA and one that I really enjoy. I picked this up in Arizona but now that we are getting Big Sky in Texas, I think I will be drinking a lot of this beer.

12oz bottle. Medium amber color, brilliant, with a medium sticky head. The aroma is a smack of bright, pungent, and piney simcoe hops, with an almost minty or wintergreen sweetness, and a light touch of alcohol. The flavor has a strong grassy, piney hop component, with that same minty edge and a nice toasty to caramel malt balance. Medium sweetness and medium bitterness, with the bitterness just winning out in the finish, but the balance being almost even through most of the flavor. Finishes fruity. A bit of a surprise, and a very simcoe-focused beer with a generous malt base. Nice, but maybe a little too much simcoe, and the alcohol in the aroma borders on detracting.

It is tough following a rating like that,,,,,,, Poured from 12 oz, nice copper color with medium off white head. Strong hoppy nose of wet grass and pine. Malty semi-sweet taste, kind of fruity, medium bodied with an oily-sticky texture. Overall a pleasant surprise that finished nicely.

It could be said we all live under the big sky, but this is never more evident than in the wide state of Montana where rolling hills of green and endless skies of azure stretch out as far as the eyes and imagination can envision. Montana may not be first on the list of one’s beer travels, but I have learned to not doubt the universal appeal of good beer no matter whom, when, and where. Aptly named Big Sky Brewing and located in Missoula, Montana, their first offering is an IPA of hopefully equally enthralling beauty.

The sun must be setting because my glass glows with rich hues of dusk; blood red-orange and deep aged coppers under earthly coppery clouds. Chunky and rocky, much like the mountains of Montana herself, her head fades in patches, leaving clumps clinging desperately to the sides of my glass. Free-climbing, anyone? Equally big is her vibrant nose bursting with fresh hops of the deliciously green variety: pine, fir, grass, a touch of green veggies. Sticky, hop oils abound for a wet sappy presence that belies an interesting undercurrent of mashed sour green apples. Sprinkled on top is powdered cumin and ginger with orange pith drying in the background. There is a crisp fresh snap to the Big Sky IPA nose which pairs well with its big, wet, sticky, sloppy nose and without further ado, I dive deep into her inviting blood red-orange depths. A clean mouthfeel, her body is a bit thinner than I was expecting in comparison. The front is mild; the middle and end of her palate is where she shines best. Like walking into an untouched forest of pine, fir, and fresh hop vines damp with dew and glistening in the summer sun, the air exudes hop cones, oils, pine needles, fir, and a wisp of dry bark. Riding through is a river of fresh honey and caramelized nectarines. Bitterness provides balance with orange pith, orange skin, and dry hop resins. Each quaff coats my lips which I in turn lick in smacking satisfaction. Complexity need not apply here; all I need which the Big Sky IPA provides is fresh piney hoppy IPA quaffing satisfaction. Ginger and cumin pepper my breath as even more fresh pine needles, fir, and hop cones are crushed underneath mindful feet as I wander amidst her bountiful forest. Tasty.

Well played and extremely drinkable, I can easily imagine the blissful satisfaction of supping on a Big Sky IPA while relaxing under the big skies of Montana. Pint in hand, the sun kisses your cheek just as a gentle breeze teases the grass and ruffles my clothes. My glass empty, the remedy is but a hands-reach away as I grab another bottle from my slightly chilled cooler. With a pop of the cap and a gentle pour, I am set once more to continue to enjoy Nature’s embrace.

Bottled. Pours clear amber with minimal cream colored head. Smells of spruce, evergreen, grapefruit and hay. Tastes the same finishes long with pine notes that linger. it’s a thin beer that is slick on the tongue. Recommended.

Pours orange and has an off white head, aroma full of citrus and floral hops, with a nice malt backbone. Taste is similar, a little weak but overall tastes of thick hops at the beginning with a slight caramel middle with a rather nice bitter finish. Nice IPA.