Caldera IPA

Brewed by Caldera Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Ashland, Oregon USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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A decent pour from the can produces an almost three-finger thick, light tan colored head in my large Tripel Karmeliet tulip. The beer is a light amber color, but shows a brilliantly clear, orange / red tinged, full copper hue when held up to the light. The aroma is definitely hoppy, though not aggressively so, there is also a fair amount of malt character that accentuates a sticky hop character. Aromas of candied orange zest, ruby red grapefruit, caramelized oranges, some touches of pine and green herbal notes and, towards the finish, a touch of cracker like grain and lightly toasted malt.

Slightly sweet, somewhat light bodied, but definitely hoppy. A nice bitterness clings to the palate and lingers for quite some time in a long, bitter, dry finish. Up front the bitterness takes on a decidedly herbal note with touches of hemp, biting pine flavors and a bit of herbal / green-grassy notes. This is definitely nice and quaffable, it is not overly sweet nor thick for an IPA, though the hop character definitely tends to cling to the palate. The first sips, as well as sips where I have gone and done something else for a while, have a much more prominent citrus hop character (with orange zest, grapefruit notes, kumquat and perhaps a touch of lychee); otherwise the herbal and bitter hop flavors dominate.

The flavor is much more harsh and aggressive than the aroma suggested, but it will certainly still be enjoyable for the hop heads out there. A solid IPA, that could actually use a touch more malt, or to dial back the herbal and bitter hop character.

Purchased: Liquid Solutions

Pours orange with white head, aroma is thick hops and a bit of sweetness. Taste is strangely sweet, citrusy, finishes caramel sweet and ends bitter. Very nice IPA!

UPDATED: NOV 3, 2011 12oz can from SamuraiArtist - thanks, Ezra! Nice lookin’ copper brew with a pretty decent head. I continue to be surprised at finding such robust and interesting beers packed in aluminum. This is a nice, crisp, intensely bitter West Coast IPA - very lemony and sticky. I’d drink this all the time if I could. Fine stuff.

can courtesy of SamuraiArtist...pours a rich burnt amber color with a fluffy white head...super small bubbles...aroma is intense piney hops, dried herbs, grassiness and sweet malts. flavor is similarly resiny and grainy balanced out with the caramel malts.very creamy mouth feel.

12oz can, courtesy of joet. Thanks, Joe! Pours a surprisingly dark color for an IPA: hazy, amber-orange color; creamy, fine-bubbled light-tan head with modest retention and lacing; still concerned by the color, and I’m hoping this isn’t overloaded with darker crystal malt. Some moderate citrusy and earthy hop character in the nose, along with a non-trivial crystal malt contribution (at least it isn’t overpowering); between the sweetness, the modest hop profile, and the crystal malt, I’m not exactly enthralled as of yet, though things seem put together reasonably well; by no means my favorite sort of interpretation of the style; midwest-y, in my opinion, moreso than west coast. Medium body (to slightly larger); medium or less carbonation (a bit undercarbonated for the lingering sweetness); reasonably smooth, and no show of warming alcohol; there are some solid citrus and earthy hop flavors here, nicely bitter for the amount of malt it’s pushing against; the crystal character, again, just does nothing for me, and there’s some darker caramel contributions as well, all crystalline sugar-like; a hint of a vegetal note at the core, but I’d guess this is just some grassiness from the hop additions. This beer presents well a common IPA interpretation that I don’t generally care for: heavily earthy hoppiness, lots o’ crystal malt, lingering sweetness. Not for me. Lengthy finish, with both some earthy hop bitterness and sticky sugar / crystal maltiness carrying through to the end; something like balanced, but that crystal-malt character just doesn’t leave the palate.

Pours ruddy orange amber with two fingers of creamy sticky sandstone head. Nose is resinous and oily with notes of apricot and sweet malt. Flavor is lightly sweet with a peanut hull character. Looses the more distinguishable hop notes found in the nose. Medium body with a gripping bitterness.

(Can - courtesy of rosenbergh) Poured amber and clear. Head was dense, white and medium sized. Aroma contained citiricness, pine needles and fruitiness. Palate was medium bodied with medium carbonation. Flavours were hops, pine, citiricness, malts, sweetness, bisquit and bitterness. Aftertaste was malty and bitter. Pleasant aroma and quite balanced flavour.

Clear orange-red, puffy off white head. Aroma is sticky, malty, caramel, spicy, hops. Taste is more spicy hops, caramel, candied apples, lingering bitterness.

Thanks to 5000 for sending this can my way. The beer pours a dark amber color with a white head. Darker than expected. The aroma is very nice. I get a lot of grapefruit and pine notes. The flavor is similar. The predominant flavor is some resiny pine from the hops but I also get some grapefruit. The toffee and caramel malt backbone balance out the beer nicely and keep the bitterness level fairly low for a west coast IPA. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation. Very nice.

Can, as pictured, got this from house of 1000 beers. Clear orangy brown. Smell is overly hoppy. Yes, quite processed and assertive hop flavors; pine tar, green citrus peels and the like. Dull soapy rude mouth coating palate of which very little co2 is present. On style. Same with the finish, long and bitter. Borders on double territory.