Bison IPA Single Hop Series - Simcoe

Brewed by Bison Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Berkeley, California USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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Name: IPA - Simcoe
Date: 05/03/2008
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party

Appearance: hazy orange, wispy off white head,
Aroma: dry crystal malt aroma with lots of fruity floral hops,
Flavor: sweet crystal malt flavor, lots of sweet fruity character, light bitterness,

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.1/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+/4

17-Dec-07 (22-oz bottle: Purchased 09-Nov-07 for $3.29 at Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido, CA) From my experience, an aroma that is this earthy would normally suggest moderate aging, but this beer is not nearly old enough to exhibit this degree of earthiness from aging. Along with earth, the beer smells like twigs, rope, partially decayed grass cuttings, and raw grain. As with the aroma, the beer is noticeably earthy in flavor, especially in the finish, offering notes of mildly sweet fruitiness, grass, orange citrus, a bit of grapefruit, some floral hop character, plenty of zesty spice, mushrooms, and a strongly grainy malt flavor bordering on husky. On the palate, the lower carbonation level helps make this beer extremely drinkable for a West Coast IPA, soft, mildly bitter and easy to quaff, and the beer shows little of the harsher pine and bitter characteristics that hopheads crave. In the glass, it’s golden-amber in color, fairly hazy (though there is no sediment in the bottle), and capped by a small, off-white head that dissipates to a thin ring within five minutes. Haphazardly drawn ringed and patchy lacing has great staying power on the surface of the glass. I really enjoy this hops varietal and it’s earthy profile, but this beer is really very earthy, so it might not be everyone’s cup of tea.

Pours amber with a thin white head. Smells of sage, some spicy hints, grassy. Tastes dry and spicy with lots of floral hints on the finish.

22oz bottle. Clear golden color. Wonderful tart, hop aroma. Clean crisp malt. Nice hop bitterness. Personally reminds me of Sweetwater IPA. Flavor is nice malt, nice bitterness.

Yum! This single hop series beer makes wonderful use of a wonderful hop! Fruity nutty and floral as sin. Lots of sweet and malty character, too. Perhaps a little sugary in the finish, but overall, a really nice beer.

Appearance: Pours a clear body with just a slight orange tint to it. Tiny ring of white bubbles on top. Smell: Handful of tropical fruits, grapefruit and papaya, served up in a light caramel sauce. Taste: Caramel malts with just a hint of toast. More of the tropical fruits from the aroma displaying a nice juiciness. Fairly restrained medium bitterness. A touch citric on the finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: Not so enjoyable as an IPA, but it is pretty fun in terms of learning your hops and their various attributes and characteristics.

Pours a transparent deep golden bronze with a wispy-lacing white head. Aroma of grassy piny hops with a touch of lightly sweet pale malt. Body starts with a mild caramel malty sweetness and a decent mild hoppy character, but not that assertive in flavor. An ok IPA that might be better with a fresh hop profile.

Pours a light copper color with a white head. Aroma is caramel, toast, and some citrus hops. Flavor is caramel, toast, and a bitter citrus finish.

Pours light orange red with a small head, and below average lacing. Below average carbonation with a sweet smell of mild hops. Tastes hoppy like an IPA should. Light on the pallet, this beer could use a maltier backbone. Not bad- not great but I would rather have a strong DIPA instead.

I like the idea of having a single-hop IPA series. Pours clear copper with a 2-finger white head. Clean, crisp hop aroma. Lots of pepper and pine with grass. Lighter taste than expected, almost like an XPA. Earthy, pine flavors with some lemon. A Bison beers go, this is pretty good.