BluCreek Zen IPA

BluCreek Brewing Company
Brewed at Sand Creek Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Madison, Wisconsin USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

UPDATED: JUL 29, 2007 Poured a hazy yellow-brown. Very bitter tea taste... not balanced by any kinda body. Not the hoppy bitter piney taste that hallmarks some of the great IPAs. Rather the taste of a green tea that has been steeped too long. I initially thought the beer might be too old... but after reading some other descriptions... it looks like everyone’s experience was as bad as mine. I would not buy this beer again!

Pours a murky orange bronze with a small, thin-lacing white head. Aroma of earthy piny hops and some pale grainy malt. Body starts slightly sweet with a lot of drier earthy bitterness and a touch of soapy lemon citrus. Needs more crisp, refreshing flavor and balance. Seems too muddled and bitter. This might’ve been an old bottle, but I can’t find a date on it anywhere.

Very cloudy gold color with a medium head. Fairly herbal aroma, mainly tea. The taste is rather bland and watery. Barely any hops at all. The tea adds a little bit of bitterness, but it does not stand out in any way. Blech.

Strange! Some hop bitterness---with the tea taste. Muddy amber appearance, which I didn’t mind. Would not buy again!

I was definitely unimpressed by this beer. It is unappealing in appearance, not differentiated in flavor, has a watery mouthfeel, and nothing that would redeem itself over these other flaws in its flavor. I would not recommend this; there are just too many other great IPAs in America. This beer comes out of the bottle murky, cloudy and dark...it looks like this nasty apricot-orange stuff my wife drinks, with not much head. Aroma was citrus-y, but not in the normal hop-bitterness way that you’d find in say an Alpha King. Rather this beer exhibits an unusual citrus-ness without bitterness. Mouthfeel is apparent before the flavor...it is quite flat. Flavor is watery, bland, not IPA-like at all, and not very satisfying. Definitely not recommended.

Pour is a hazy brown with a small tan head. Aroma is deffinalty all IPA. Very much citrus and floral hops with a some caramel malts. Flavor is where this one is different. Very herbal and so much so it takes away from the hops. Gave it a decent rating b/c it was a good attempt and it almost worked. Make the hops show up over the green tea and you got something here.

Yikes, this BluCreek lines has interesting ideas that don’t usually turn out well. Pours light copper with a rocky beige head. The aroma has light pale-ish malt, green tea and lightly spiced hops. Medium / light body with sharp carbonation. The flavor starts with minor malt and a tea-like bitterness. The finish is astringent an medicinal. The only bitterness is from the tea aspects, I can’t detect the hops in an IPA? While I drink tea on a daily basis, it doesn’t belong in my beer. Having such a strong presence in a beer is not a good thing. This was an interesting idea that really didn’t work.

12oz - Aroma is muddy wet musty malt and green tea. Pours dark hazy yeallow/brown with a small head and good lacing. Flavor matches aroma with an interesting tea aftertaste, but no hops. Not sure of bottles age. Crisp and bubbly palate. Different, but not that good.