BrewDog Punk IPA

Brewed by BrewDog
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Best Before July 7, 2009; Sampled July 3, 2009
A solid pour produces a frothy, large and small bubbled, two-finger thick, pale, off-white colored head in my 25cl tulip glass. The beer is a copper-gold color that shows a brilliantly clear, bright gold color when held up to the light. The aroma smells of herbal hops and lemon zest up front, but quickly picks up a candied tangelo zest note, caramelized orange peel, as well as a faint note of grassy grain in the finish. The aroma still has a fair amount of hop character to it, for which I am relieved. There seems to be a boost from some fermentation notes to the aroma as well; mostly non-descript but it softly contributes to the fruitiness here with perhaps a hint of diacetyl. The aroma is quite nice and I am definitely enjoying the dominant hop character and the noticeable, clean malt notes.

Dry tasting up front, but it picks up some grain sweetness as it rolls across the tongue. The hop character contributes a signature Meyer lemon flavor that lingers through to the finish. The finish also has a biting hop bitterness to it that sticks around on the palate well after the beer has left my mouth. Tangerine flavors are backed by sharper notes of biting essential citrus oil and pine sap. The citrus character found here can remind me of a nice lemon curd at times. The body has a touch of fullness to it that, perhaps, belies the light color; this does have the quaffability that a good IPA needs though it is perhaps a touch on the full side of perfection. The citrus hop character definitely boosts the perceived sweetness of this beer. The malt here clearly plays a supporting role, but I like that it doesn’t have a noticeable crystal malt contribution; the flavor is of clean pale malt with maybe a hint of grassy grain to it.

This is a very pleasant surprise; I wasn’t actually expecting much from this beer, but I am really digging the interplay between malt and hop here. Clearly the hop character is dominant, but I like the clean influence of the simple malt bill as it serves as a perfect vehicle for the hop character.

Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ

Bottle - Right away much lighter than I’d expected -- hazy yellow-orange like an American wheat or something. The head is thin and watery. The aroma is full of grassy fruitiness, and the beer drinks with a puckering citric tartness. (#3571, 7/2/2009)

Bottle:Hazy, pale golden, small white foamy layer; big dry foral nose, some malt in the background; solid dry bitter flavour, light to medium bodied; lingering dry hoppy, almost piney finish, balanced by some juicy malt. Fine session brew.......

bottle. Pours a pale, mildly hazy yellow, thin head that clears very quick, leaves a ring and a little lace. Nose is heavy on some floral bitterness, some oranges, and some sticky sugary sweetness. Flavor isn’t very strong... light, floral and spicy bitterness, mild hop character, and some tamed biscuit sweetness. Not bad flavor, but certainly not assertive. Palate is relatively smooth, but weak on carbonation and with a bit of an metallic finish. Overall a decent IPA, but nothing premium or especially impressive.

Poured out a slightly hazy bright yellow gold beer with a small white head but it is retained well at cover and gives out decent 360 degree lacing. The aroma was of deep citrus (ruby red grapefruit, marachino cherries) and quite pungent. First time I’ve ever smelt cherry in an IPA. I’ve noticed the sweaty feet characteristic... warm yet boring malts. The taste is quite fruity and on the sweet side with a decent amount of bready malts, grapefruit, weak orange and light herbal hops. Smooth with soft carbonation, long lasting midrange bitter finish. I think I’ll re-review this one.

Four oz sample from a botttle at the 3 sons beer tasting. Not much hop aroma. Looks like pale lager. Bitter and somewhat strong but smoother than most IPA. Bitter hop linger. Quite watery body for an IPA. Very little carbonation.

This one poured a clear darker yellow color with a white head. Aroma was malty and sweet with nots of bittering hops. Flavor was malty, a fair amount of bitterness, but not much hop flavor.

Bouteille de 330 ml obtenue via Importations Privées Bièropholie. Arôme: Odeur de zeste d’orange. Apparence: La couleur est orangée voilée avec une faible densité de bulle. Présence d’un mince col mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût d’orange avec une pointe citronnée. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture huileuse. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Amertume d’houblons en arrière goût. (Rating #2482)