Custom Brewcrafters "Ryan" Imperial Pale Ale

Brewed by Custom Brewcrafters
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Honeoye Falls, New York USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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bottle... really ugly pale ale, dirty copper, golden brown on the fringes, light tan head settles for a finger cap... the aroma is exactly what you’d expect out of imperial pale, grassy with a bite, huge malt backbone, a bit of an oak finish... the taste is too malty, heavy, light grass more alcohol... not a big fan

(beer tasting @ Monty’s Krown - Rochester, NY: bottle - 22 oz) Cloudy gold pour with a thin white head. Piney and slightly sweet aroma with some dry hops. Flavor is dry and hoppy but slightly muddled. Light dryness at the finish.

In short: A sweet caramelized IPA with a woody/herbal hops signature. Below average.
How: From a 750ml bottle at BCTC 2010
The look: Almost clear dark golden body topped by a small beige head
In long: Nose of caramel and resinous woody hops with light notes of grapefruits. Taste feels a bit too sweet and boozy for an 8% IIPA. Caramel and toffee on toasted whole-wheat bread followed by woody and herbal hops with a short bitterness. After-taste is more sweet than bitter. Smooth carbonation. I didn’t care much for this beer. There was better beer to drink at this festival, I regret having this one. I wish my life came with a set of "◄◄ REW ► PLAY ▌▌PAUSE █▌STOP ►► FF" buttons.

Another and maybe the last beer smuggled back from Rochester. This one falls a little short in the Pale and the Imperial categories. Just a little flat and not an incredibly exciting hop profile. Sadly. Pour is closer to a brown with ruby tint. Aroma is a little earthy and slight candy sugar and caramel. A little rubbing alcohol and bandaid hops happening here. Maybe that is not what I am loving here. Oh well. A nice chance to try an otherwise impossible to get IPA from the Northeast.

2010 Autumn Festival of Ales. Standard IPA look with some hops aroma. Lots of both malt and hops. Smoother than most IPA’s. No bite at the end.

Very cloudy, dark autumn color, a very dark amber. Very nice lacing pattern. Nose is unexpected. A bit of ginger, all-spice, some maltiness, not heavy on hop-type notes. Palate is balanced, heavy malt character, syrupy, with an astringent back-end. Very nice.

Smells a little earthy or woody. Thin but creamy; has a distinctly smokey flavor, although not very strong. Blends in well with the floral hop flavors. A bit of a caramel aftertaste. Overall much more mellow than I was expecting, but decent.

BCTC, 22oz bottle. Medium beige head atop clear copper body. Aroma is moderately sweet, grapefruit/cat piss, some strawberry. Taste is moderately sweet, grapefruit, some melon/strawberry. Medium body, somewhat watery.

Aroma is spicy roasted malt, like rye/pumpernickel. Flowery perfume of hop. The appearance is glassy cherry red, with a hint of orange. Massive head; ice cream float. Ultra-clear. Tiny bubbles. The flavor is darkly roasted malt that sticks around. Flowery, earthy flavor. Dark bread and soil malts; woody and slightly herbal hop. Very harsh on the malt end. Feels thick and chewy. Tiny little alcohol burn on the way down. Warms the innards. Needs to warm up. A burnt, woody, earthy challenging brew.

Draft @ Coles Buffalo NY. Part of a new series. Copper colored pour. Piney resiny hop aroma. Just shy of being a 7. Taste has decent bitterness, medium piney sticky hop taste. Seems to be lacking that extra oomph to push it over the top. Has potential to be a pretty good beer.