1.4 AROMA 4/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 2/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 3/20For starters, I should have known better simply because the bottle cap is generic. If the brewery can’t afford to brand their bottle cap, how can they afford decent hops?
Anyway, carefully pouring the beer into my mug resulted in half beer, half foam. I had to wait a good 10 minutes for the foam to settle before emptying the bottle.
The beer itself has very little IPA flavor to it. Hardly a hint of hoppiness or bitterness. It reminds me more of a Blue Moon with the orange already squeezed into the bottle before it was even poured. This is the second time I’ve tried Climax IPA, six months from the first try, so it’s not a fluke.
If you’re looking for a true microbrew IPA, don’t include Climax on your hit list.
2.3 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 8/20
Bottle. Nose biggest in caramel, sweet with fruit, hops, pours ruby-tinged golden with a large rocky beige head. Taste is very sweet with much lighter bitterness. Caramel and generic but very intense fruitiness, aggressive medium-full body. I can never tell with these homebrewish ales if they’re infected or just fermented weirdly, yeast is always out of control.
3.5 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 13/20
Draught at Rattle ´n Ham, NYC 120906. Amber a bit hazy beer wuth a offwhite head. Hoppy and herbal aroma and similar flavour.
3.1 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 12/20
12oz bottle. Explosive beige head atop hazy amber body. Aroma is medium sweet, spicy, some grapefruit/lemon, light bread, lemon/grapefruit rind. Taste is medium sweet, grapefruit/lemon, some orange, light bread. Effervescent medium body.
3.3 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 13/20
Draught at Rattle&Hum, NYC. Cloudy golden/grey beer with a nice lasting offwhite head. Malty fruity hoppy aroma, grass, hay, floral, citrus, some pepper. Herbal citrus flavor, grassy, metal notes, fruity, grapefruit, banana notes. Decent without being special.
2.3 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 8/20
Bottle. I think my bottle must have been a bit too old -- foamed up pretty huge when I poured. Light brown to deep caramel color, tan frothy head. Taste is off -- a little astringent and coupled with high carbonation. I would try again just to see if this is an outlier.
3.4 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
Keg @ Barcade, Brooklyn (probably). The pour’s deep amber with a medium off-white head. The nose is strong pine bitterness, some wood and light sweet honey. The taste is hay, bitter pine. The pine flavor’s strong, but not overbearing. Woody body. Quite dry on the long, bitter finish. Active carbonation, but easy to drink. Overall, this was perfectly fine. Pretty dry but flavorful.
3.2 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
Clear copper color with a tall soapy off-white head. Aroma of pine, grapefruit, and resin. Flavor is quite bitter with some citrus and caramel, but largely pine and bitter hops. Decent beer-just not well balanced.
2.9 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 11/20
Pours a caramel color. Smell is hops, floral. Taste is hoppy, bitter, pine, no real balance to speak of. Overall a mediocre beer.
2.6 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 10/20
Deep amber coloured body with a hint of a brown tint and a two centimetre tall tan head - more of an ESB look than an IPA to me. Aroma of light earthy malt, some subtle hops, yeast, wort and a touch of nuts, not too much exciting at play here. Medium-bodied; Some mild earthy and floral hops thrown in with some subtle malts, a touch of sugar and a little caramel flavour. Aftertaste doesn’t show much either with a little hint of citrus and grapefruit, some more earthy malt and not much hops at all. Overall, a pretty poor IPA, not even a good APA - just a slightly more malty and citric amber ale, if that - not worth searching out. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from Norm’s in Vienna, Virginia on 16-February-2012 for US$10.99 for a 6 pack, sampled at home in Washington on 23-April-2012.
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