 Jokes (1449), Chicago, Illinois, USA
Oct 2, 2006
Opaque, cloudy golden orange with a thick, quickly diminishing fizzy off-white head. The aroma is pretty interesting with loads of grains, orange juice, some nuts, light pine and grapefruit notes. The green tea is pretty soft in the nose. In fact, if it didn’t say on the bottle, I’m not sure I would have known it was in there. The body is moderately full with sparse, very soft carbonation on the tongue. The flavor is pretty much just not to my liking. It’s incredibly bitter tea with mild hop oils and zero sweetness to balance. The bitterness is too much, especially considering it’s all bitter tea. I like green tea and I like hoppy beers, but this combination just doesn’t work, at least not right here. Interesting, but not all that enjoyable. Thanks Justin.
jeremyd365 (82), Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Aug 28, 2008 Alright, I admit it: I bought this one primarily because of the "green tea" gimmickry and took a chance on it.
It pours a thick, opaque, nutty-brown-colored and is SUPER foamy (it took me nearly 20 minutes to get the whole bottle poured into my glass). It appeared to be highly carbonated, as one might guess.
The smell is not unpleasant, but not that of a normal IPA: nutty and malty with perhaps only a hint of hops.
In the mouth it’s thick and a little citrusy, while the hops are more apparent at the finish. I can MAYBE sense some green tea at the finish as well but it’s hard to tell--it’s kind of citrusy as well.
Overall, I can see why this would get such an average low rating while judging it as an IPA, because it really doesn’t seem like one at all. HOWEVER, it IS quite an interesting concoction and not at all horrible. Thus, I won’t completely fail it and am glad I tried it. It seems sort of the same situation as Dogfish Head’s Midas Touch. It’s hard to compare it to other brews.
notalush (2036), Rawn-kawn-kohma, New York, USA
Jul 7, 2008 Pours a murky, copper/orange/brown, with a fizzy body, but almost no head despite this - it kind of looks like carbonated green tea, ironically enough - a bit of bready malt in the aroma, with some herbal hops, chalky character, and honey sweetness - the green tea is fairly apparent in the flavor, even more so than the hops - some doughy british maltiness and dry mineral character arrive later - it tastes like someone dropped a shot of green tea into an english bitter - it’s original, but not very good.
Walt (2268), Chicago, Illinois, USA
Jun 17, 2008 pour is hazed orangey amber with a huge bubbled explosive almost, off white head...smell is faintly herbal and grassy...explosive fizzy carbonation...taste is lightly sweet with hints of grass and pine....not very good...
Strykzone (962), Wood River, Illinois, USA
May 26, 2008 Cloudy with a lot of suspended yeast. Very unusual for an IPA. Difficult to find aroma of yeast with even more difficult to find IPA aromas. Flavors are unique with the green tea adding distinct dry bitterness that differs from that of the hop. There is orange and lemon aid. This is a dry beer. Very little carbonation. Seemed to numb the tongue like before dental work. A very different kind of beer. Fun to sample.
SpudClampDawg (921), Jasper, Indiana, USA
May 5, 2008 12 oz bottle: Pours like a cloudy iced tea with a thin white cap that lets you know this indeed beer. The hops are soft in the nose, adding a citrusy zip to the heavy tea notes. The body is thick with little carbonation. The tea takes over everythings else, letting a touch of sweet caramel and orangey hops come through. The bitterness is too low for the style, making this more of a sweet tea than anything else. I commend the brewer for trying something new. It is interesting, but not something I would drink often.
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