Eel River Certified Organic India Pale Ale

Brewed by Eel River Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Fortuna, California USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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Poured from 12 oz. bottle, deep gold in color, big white foamy head. Aroma of citrus, but the expected hops bite was not there. Medium-to-full bodied, a few herbal notes but a clean finish. Nice beer, a little high in alcohol (7.2%), but not your typical IPA, as the malt comes through as well. A good beer, but not a hops monster.

This beer does seem to be somehow, inexplicably, flawed. . . but I love the balance they were able to achieve. Still, there’s this feeling that lagery normalness and bland familiar hop flavors lurk just beyond what is actually a nice, relatively light and subtle IPA. Would rate lower, except for the nice complexity and balance in the aroma and taste.

I think this somewhat misses the mark as far as an IPA is concerned, but a really decent and enjoyable beer. Maybe more of an amber or pale ale.

Aroma is a little grainy but not much there. Taste is some spices and grains without many hops. Overall a little too odd.

Bottle 34 cl, Total Wine. Pours clear dark smber with a small beige head. Aroma is spicy malty citric metallic caramel a bit sweet. Flavor is much similar, good fruityness, a bit thon. Finishes longlived dry bitter.

12oz bottle. Half-hazy orange color, bubbles on side of glass, thin off-white head. Some lace. Lighter carbonation. Kind of a wierd hoppy aroma, soapy, almost. A little maltiness. Light bitter taste. Something wierd about the texture, light chalk, maybe. Merely OK IPA. I guess it is a plus that it is organic

Deep orange with a light haze. Sustained dollop of white foam. Soft and well-balanced aromas of dried strawberry, grapefruit zest, pineapple, cotton candy, peach marmalade and enticingly rich bready malt. Some pleasant dustiness to the hops, as well. Cozy and snug carbonation. Wonderfully ripe peach and tropical-laden hops drip with an explosive yet luxuriant lusciousness. Nary a trace of bitterness aside from a grassy spiciness which contributes an appetizing piquancy. Alcohol is masterfully concealed within. Kiss of dusty hops lightens the tropical fruit-laden hop aspects and harmoniously embraces the esters which impart a jammy strawberry puree slickness. A divinely pure softness abounds all around. Perky malt saturates the core with an immaculately clean heftiness which buoys yet never obstructs the finessed hop-and-ester succulence. Closes with a sugar cookie malt and leathery yeast edginess which evenly contrasts with the ongoing profusion of elegant fruity esters and dusty hop bitterness. Well I’ll be damned, this is rather splendid, and certainly a welcome change of pace from the monotonous and poorly balanced resin/grapefruit/caramel bombs we so often encounter here in the States. This actually has lots of personality, and is obviously British-inspired. Hats off to Eel River for crafting a charming IPA, while maintaining a highly noble environmental consciousness, to boot!

Bottle. Head is initially average sized, frothy, off-white, mostly lasting. Body is medium amber. Aroma is moderately malty (cookie, caramel), moderately hoppy (apricot, grapefruit, resin), with notes of dried mango and papaya, toffee, marmalade. Flavor is moderately to heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter. Medium to full body, watery/velvety texture, lively carbonation, lightly alcoholic. Bears a lot of aromatic resemblance to Triple Exultation, actually...very similar hop and ester character, sweet malts, very tropical fruity, big marmalade punch. For the style it definitely needs more finishing bitterness or better attenuation, but it still works as a sipping American strong ale, like a younger sibling of Triple Exultation. I must admit I quite like it in the state it’s in here, but then I don’t like the one-dimensional hop bombs that most IPA lovers seem to look for. I’m also curious what a fresh draft sample would be like.

Bottle from Appellation Wines. Reddish amber brown colour, good head. Perfume hop aroma. sweet flowery hop flavour. Quite smooth. A bit bland for an IPA.

66 cl bottle @ Edinburgh.
Rated on 28.07.2011.
Pours clear orange colour with small head. Aroma of sweet caramel and mild fruits. Flavour of caramel, fruits and grass notes. A bit too sweet.
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