Brewers Alley IPA

Brewed by Brewers Alley Restaurant & Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Frederick, Maryland USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

Picked up a six pack of this while schlepping around the eastern shore. Clear amber brew with off white head. Aroma of crisp hops, mild maltiness. Taste is medium malt with a fine hoppy finish. Hoppiness is not as pronounced as most modern IPAs and I’d liken the flavor profile more to a pale ale than an IPA - a really fine pale ale - but is good all around. Palate is somewhat on the light side. OVerall, a fine brew.

From the tap at Brewer’s Alley. Amber in color with a short head. Hard to tell if the bartender did this on purpose to maximize the beer! There is a mild bitterness and the brew is crisp at the finish. Ok IPA overall.

Served on cask at the brewpub, 1/8/11. Pours a clear pale copper color with a medium creamy tan head. Good head retention and lacing. Aroma of citrus hops and pale malts. The taste is bitter resiny, leafy hops, a citrus finish and some toffee. Medium bodied with a faint lingering bitterness. Nice beer.

Tap. Pours clear amber with an average, creamy ivory head, medium retention with good lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (bread, cookie, caramel, toasted), heavy hops (floral, citrus, pine), and average esters (apple/pear) with notes of peach and pineapple. Flavor is heavy malt (bread, cookie, caramel, toasted), heavy hops (floral, citrus, pine), and average esters (apple/pear) with notes of peach. Medium body, warmth, and carbonation, low creaminess with a dry finish.

On cask at the brewpub. Pours a slightly hazy orange with a creamy white head. Aroma is lightly citric, very floral, sweet and hoppy in a soft way. Some touches of caramel and even a bit of an earthiness. Flavor is very surprising, hoppy but not the slightest bit bitter, super floral, very perfumey and easy to drink. Finishes a touch fruity citric, but still not bitter. Medium body and very little carbonation (cask). I dig that they went a different route with the IPA, but you gotta have some bitterness, this was just too sweet from start to finish.

Nice slightly hazy amber coloured body with a copper glow and a thinnish tan head. Aroma of somewhat fresh hops, relatively low in alpha acids, with some metal, malt and a touch of caramel - not much in the nose at all. Medium-bodied; Floral, piney hoppiness right at the front, but a few minutes afterwards, the taste fades to caramel, a touch of malt and a very small lingering resiny hoppiness. Aftertaste shows some slight bitterness, a touch of metal and some light sugars. Overall, not a bad IPA, but not showing enough bitterness and hops throughout and the hops that are shown aren’t too strong. Still, a decently refreshing and bitter IPA and I’m happy I tried it! I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from Ye Olde Spirit Shop in Frederick, Maryland on 29-July-2010, sampled at home in Washington on 29-August-2010.

On cask at Frisco’s. Pours clear golden with small white head. Extremely flat looking for a cask. Aromas of piney hops, citrus, and some grassy hops. Flavors of pine, citrus, grassy hops, and pale malts. Decent IPA. Have the bottled version in my hotel fridge to compare to later this week.

Average at best and again, where’s the aroma. Just a hint of hops in the aroma. Not much else. The flavor was OK. A bit of citrus, some pine. Finishes a bit thin and watery.