City Steam Innocence Ale

Brewed by City Steam Brewery Cafe
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Hartford, Connecticut USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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on tap -pours a creamy light tan head and cloudy copper/brown color. Aroma is bold, sweet grapefruit hops. Taste is bold sweet grapefruit hops-lots of bitterness, followed by medium malt-caramel. Good carbonation.

Bottle. Poured hazy golden color with an average frothy white head that lasted with good lacing. Moderate sour citrus hop aroma. Medium body with a slick texture and soft carbonation. Moderate bitter flavor with a moderate bittersweet finish of medium duration. Very good brew.

Pours copper with a thin white film. Smells of citrus and biscuitty malt with some doughy yeast. Tastes of sweet malt, some citrussy air freshener like qualities and a bitter peppery finish.

Draft at the brewpub. Reddish tinged amber beer. Drinks with a metallic hoppiness, finishing with that funky, mushiness you get in some homebrews. Improves as it warms, but my least favorite here so far. (#4902, 1/14/2013)

Easily the best of the five weak beers I had here. Nose is very very faint, just some hints of citrus. Dark orange, little head. Good malty-fruity (lemon-lime) flavor, though, with some biscuity character that really gives it some depth. Very sharp at the end, but drinkable.

This was OK, but if I'm in Hartford again I'm going to visit the Mark Twain House, not this crappy brewpub.

Draught pint at City Steam on 3/21/2007
Moderately hazy, golden body has strong amber-auburn highlights and a small, quickly receding white head that leaves behind no lacing.
Strong hoppiness in the nose is wet and juicy, but seems to have to work a bit too hard at freeing itself from the malt behind it. Sweet caramel malts add a strong sugariness that really lessens the impact of the hops and creates too much interplay, leading to a candied orange-like nose. Some lemon-grapefruit notes break free on the finish, and begin to dry things out, while a distinct amarillo catty/hay/grassiness lingers on (actually seemed pleasant here). I appreciate that there was a solid malt backbone, and I think, within reason, too much is better than too little (creating what essentially smells/tastes like hop juice/tea), but for perfection’s sake, it needs less malt sweetness. No alcohol noted, nor any flaws.
Sweet maltiness in the flavor is immediately balanced by a strong showing of bitterness, though not going overboard, and certainly not too acidic. This wonderful hop seems to always impress me with its ability to create tons of aroma and flavor without all the obnoxious acidity. But as in the aroma, a bit too much pale/caramel sweetness wears on the palate, disturbing the light orange-lime-mango notes that are otherwise so delightful in this hop. Seems to be too much yeast and/or sediment still left in the beer, as well, as evidenced by the haziness, but also the lack of head retention and most importantly, a somewhat slippery/slick mouthfeel. Unfiltered dosent have to mean hazy, still think this stuff would be better bright. Enjoyable drinking, though, with no flaws or alcohol in the flavor. Low carbonation.

Bottle. Pours medium orange with a large white head. The nose is light sweet grain, some orange peel and herbal hops. The taste is bitter orange peel and sweet cereal. Hot alcohol flavors have a real presence on the finish of this beer, and dominate the residual tastes left in your mouth. It drinks above it’s 7.2%, not a great thing in my book. I talked to a few locals while I was drinking this, and they informed me that this is usually much better on draft. Perhaps a flawed batch? Anyway, not a great IPA.

Amber/copper color. White lacing on the glass. Good carbonation. Floral, hoppy aroma. Medium body with a thick, bitter flavor. Slightly warming on the palate.

On draft at the brewery. Meh, way too malty, if you’re not gonna drop bank on hops then drop the abv. How hard is that?

12oz bottle in a shaker. Pours amber with a lacy, off-white head. Aroma of citrusy hops and some caramel and pale malts. Flavor the same. Average texture. A pretty standard IPA.