Central Waters Lac Du Bay India Pale Ale

Formerly brewed at Central Waters Brewing Co.
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Amherst, Wisconsin USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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A fantastic brew from another quality Wisconsin microbrewery. This beer is a traditional English IPA with im guessing Fuggles and East Kent goldings as the bittering and aroma hops. This beer pours a deep amber with a slight golden hue to it. The taste is initially earthy, citrusy, and piney hops giving way to malt only to go right back down the rabbit hole to hops once again. The aroma is easily grassy, earthy, and pine hops with a small amount of what appears to be crystal malt lingering in the background. All around a fantastic version of a classic style.

UPDATED: OCT 11, 2004 Ever had one of those beers that is so darned good that it makes trying other beers of the same variety more difficult? Well, this one did it for me--it will be tough to drink any other IPAs and NOT compare them to this one as a standard. From a bottle, the beer pours a cloudy, deep amber. Lotsa little yeasties swirling around in the glass.Fragrant, hoppy nose. Large initial tan head that settles slowly. Very full-tasting beer with the malt and hops both coming on very strong right away. The hops are predominant, but there’s a lot of underlying maltiness too. Probably the fullest-bodied IPA I’ve ever tried. Exquisitely smooth. It tastes a whole lot like the spring 2004 version of Sierra Nevada’s Bigfoot Ale. It’s gonna be tough to top this...

Thanks to BBB63 for this. Pours deep ruby with tons of head and lace. 5 for appearance. Aroma is big fruit, firm hops, even berries and spices. Tastes hoppy, fruity, malty, with a super balance and a finishing creaminess that is most pleasant on the tongue. Fantastic complexity. Just an awesome beer, and another fine IPA. My second CW brew, and they continue to impress the hell out of me.

12 oz. bottle. Poured a beautiful blood orange with a well-retained beige head... fairly nice lacing going down. Aroma had a strong dose of caramel malt and floral hoppage as this warmed (had more citrus upon first pour). Caramel base on the palate, with hoppy bitterness throughout. Other elements of the flavor were light, crisp fruits, a hint of honey, and a general toastiness. Flavor was quite enjoyable. Finish was long carried through both the great malt base and the bitterness. Great beer.

12 oz bottle. Cloudy suspensions in a dark maple-orange body with a small but quite stable off-white top...woody, lightly citric nose with some doughy-yeasty character...beautiful fruity-vanilla body, bitterness develops slowly and subtly, finally crashing through into a thick, oaky, very full juicy-hoppy finish. Gorgeous.

12oz bottle acquired in trade with The_Enemy (thanks!). Poured a dark copper color with a large sized off white head. Aromas of caramel, floral, spices, and citrus. Tastes of oranges, caramel, floral hops, and almost a toasted nuttiness to it as well. Lots of lacing left on the glass. A very different IPA that was enjoyable.

bottle-purchased at Riley’s liquor store in Madison, WI. pours a deep garnet hue with a nice fluffy white head. very dark for an IPA-must mean lots of malt! Very toasty quality in the aroma-suggests an english ipa. Grainy malts and english hops in the aroma. The aroma has qualities i have never really smelled in an IPA-toffee, caramel, and a slight berry component. toasty, piney flavors with hints of caramel, toffee and a chinook hop dryness. lots of grainy malts in the finish. It almost smells oak aged from all these cool notes i get from this beer. I definately like what these folks at CW are doing.

Nice earthy hoppy aroma. Not overpowering, but very noticeable. Good deep copper color. Carbonation is full with a thick creamy off white head. Sweet malt is the first taste, but it is soon taken over by the hops. This has plenty of hop flavor, as opposed to hop bitterness. It has a enough bitterness, but a bit more wouldn't hurt. The finish is long with a nice balance between the malt and hops. Seems to be more of an English style IPA than an American one. Body is full and robust. OVerall a very nice beer.

A slightly dulling yet bright orange color. Solid firm froth of tannish, orangey tinted foam. Keeps a decent amount always present and laces the glass in rings of shelf-like sheeting. Aroma is fruity and then some, dull and mild of peach, berries, red apple, and a slight toasted grassyness is evident. Flavors are a steady pace of dullish, pale, semi-fruity, toffeeish malts bringing a slimming toasted layer along with it underneath as a nice play of darker dried grasses plays the hoppy snare to the malty bass. Uniquely bittered with orangey/grapefruity, leafy toastedness sits well from just past midway and into the finish. Floats of lightly with lots of interest with notes to spicy grasses. Actually, this is fairly complexing with alot of little things going on here and there. An interesting flavor chorus sings mildly on the palate with this one. Feel is about medium, perhaps a smigeon under, with a floating fluffy texture and easy going carbonation. Creatively smooth with just enough little hoppy bite and feathery bitterness to bring in a nice English-styled balance. One smooth drinker. Quite sessionable within the realm of IPA’s in the 7% ABV average. Could have a few of these without much hassle; ’til they catch up to ya. Gone before I knew it and will enjoy more. It’s definately not the bigger hop grabbers that most Westcoaster’s are, but it’ll do just fine with its lovely fruity/toasty/hoppy balance.

(12 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with hezron, thanks Nathan!) One of the most unusual IPAs I’ve had, I can’t really say this is even close to being "to style", but I have to admire the willingness to push the envelope, which this beer definitely does. First off, out of the bottle, it pours one of the darkest IPAs I can remember, very hazy, dark ruddy amber, almost light brown in color. Light tan head doesn’t rise above a quarter-inch in height, and settles to a broken film. The aroma is extremely interesting, though straying considerably from your typical IPA. Malty, sweet, quite fruity, lightly hoppy, this is actually starting to approach the nose of a light barleywine, minus the alcohol, of course. Very flavorful, not all that hoppy, but the solid fruitiness and sweet, toasty, caramely malts are quite aggressive and claim the spotlight from the hops. Again in the flavor, this is slightly reminiscent of a barley wine. Nice transformation with the flavor, starting out sweet and malty, gradually turning toasty and more bitter in the long-lasting finish, but always remaining true to the maltiness. Medium to full bodied, with certainly more body than most IPAs. Good level of carbonation on the palate, smooth and creamy. Very unusual for an IPA, but I’m really liking this beer a lot. Fabulous stuff. Put this on my list of beers to seek out in future trades.