Bitter Root India Pale Ale

Brewed by Bitter Root Brewing
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Hamilton, Montana USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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The Dan Journal #130. Tasted 11/8/07. 22oz bomber. Hazy with an amber golden hue. Eye Ball of off-white head. Fruity spicy piney hops. Soggy malts and a touch soapy. Medium bodied with a nice sweet and tart dichotomy. Nice balance with a good malt character. Nice hop bitterness. Tasty yet slightly dulled.

Bottle. I thought this a decent IPA. Lots of white foam. Strong citrus flavour. I could have had another bottle.

22oz bomber pours clear copper with deep gold edges and semi tight light tan head. The aroma offers up tart grapefruit notes along with sort of earthy stale malts as well as a bit of sweet malty biscuit maltiness. The taste has a mix of tart grapefruit and almost a lime like sense blending with sweet malts, a touch of caramel malts and a slight, yet pleasing, buttery note. The sweetness and faint sense of butter balance the bitter and tart hoppiness. Pretty easy drinking IPA.

Bomber from Brewforia. Pours light copper with a foamy/frothy 4 finger near-white head. Through the head the aroma is principally floral. Med body at least. Frothy carb. Flavor is light roast malt - very light roast - under a lot of hop. Mostly floral - tho it’s not perfumey. There’s a good amount of some kind of non-citric fruit. I’m thinking they used one of those new-fangled hops. Whatever, it is certainly not the harsh NW style, but it is very hoppy and I’m sure our cousins over the pond would be amazed and delighted.

650ml bomber pours a pale amber color with about 2 fingers of white head and an abundance of nice lacing. Aroma is mostly citrus and earthy hops with a trace of caramel. Taste is citrus and earthy hops with some malty sweetness in the background. A decently balanced IPA which was a joy to sample.

22. Pours a cloudy dark amber with golden-brown edges and a dense, creamy tan head. Takes a vigorous pour to stir the head, but once it’s there, it hangs out for a while, leaving tons of blotchy lace on the sides. Buttery, cardboard, and caramel on the nose, along with some pine. Creamy medium body with lively carb. Toast, caramel, pine, and butter on the mid-palate. Mild dark resiny finish.

Bottle, shared with Parksy. Looks nice: dusky orange with an orange tinted foamy head that coats the glass with lace. Aroma is capsicum and grass, not expected, and not so appealing really. Flavour gravitates toward vegetal character, slightly earthy. This brewery hasn’t impressed me.

today is a sad day because I have to rate an IPA by one of my new favorite breweries so poorly. their single hop IPAs are astounding: all pale malt, highly attenuated, clean nose and flavor, bright, zesty, fresh and pungent hops - bottles and draft equally good. I understand this to be an English-style IPA, but it makes me wonder: WHY?!? why make such a thing when your recipe for the single-hop IPAs is so perfect? why not copy+paste with different hops? drop the caramel malt, drop the flabbiness left on the body because of insufficient hop acid, drop the chewy, rounded, dull mouthfell. ah well. at least it looks good... big pillow, sea-foam head... but you can’t drink beer head. or something.

pours a clear amber with thin head. Nose is mild citrus. Body is light, with earthy malts. Finish is under hopped.

Pours a dark orange with a small white head. The aroma has orange and caramel. The flavor has orange peel, honey, and an earthy dry finish. Not bad... Just not very good.

Pours amber with a very thinhead. Some hops in the aroma . But strong caramel notes as well. Clean crisp mouth feel, hoppy and bitter. Maore caramel mid palate. Not bad, but i could use a bit more hops and bitterness. Pretty weak.