El Toro IPA

Brewed by El Toro Brewing Co.
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Morgan Hill, California USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

UPDATED: SEP 18, 2007 Nose of lots of hops with grassy and piney notes; Copper colored with a small white head, flavor is very hoppy with a nice, long-lasting bitter finish.

Bottle, provided by Clark VV. 4/6/06. Well its interesting, but something off here. Sweatsocks, frwnch milled soap, pine and orange, whew that was weird. Brownish orange color, ok head and lacing. Bitter flavor, Grapefruit and soapy. Medium body, creamy mouthfeel, bitter finish. Eh, I thought bad bottle, but I see some people had mixed opinions on it too

Bottle: Light caramel, somewhat dirty, hazy, moderate to large off-white head, foamy, fairly nice lacing.   Standard hop nose, a bit musty and grainy tho, a little bit of mash.   Doesn’t smell all that fresh, not that it is supposed to.   Flavor reminds me of a farm, upturned earth and cow pastures.   Hop bitterness is there, its a bit astringent tho, somewhat like a citrus core.   Blech... leaves a staunchy taste in my mouth.   Overall okay, but seems rough in its astringent like bitterness.   Not smooth.   Thanks JCAPRIOTTI for the bottle!

Scents of apricot, citrus and pine? Apricot color with myriads of tiny bubbles. Head collapsed, but some lacing persisted. Citrus, grapefruit?, flavor, along with light malt and lots of hop. Carbonation erupts to provide a frothy chewy experience. Finish is grapefruit, not the flesh, but the stringy part. Really good stuff.

Slighty fruity and hoppy aroma. Strong hoppy (almost overbearing) flaovor moves slowly towards the back of the tongue and lingers. A strong IPA with good hoppiness but lacking a real distinctive hook to the taste.

2006 bottle as a bonus from StewardofGondor shared with OldGrowth on 4/6/06
Before even pouring, there’s something wrong with the aroma. Sweaty, "gym socks" as OldGrowth says and I agree. Something to do with feet and sweat, anyways. Behind that is a high level of fruitiness, backed by dry, yet assertive toasty grains and light pale malts that seem boisterous and well-presented, but the toe-cheese sort of thing really knocks the hops around, creating an almost extreme example of East Kent Golding and Fuggle funkiness. That would even be a stretch, and I’m pretty certain this West Coast IPA didnt use fuggles or EKGs! Not sure what the problem is.
The beer looks a deep copper-amber in the glass, with a full white head that recedes predictably to partial cover, with light lacing. Clear, no sediment on bottom.
The flavor is not as affected, but there is a light butter and damp, mossiness that I am still not able to put my finger on. Heavy fruitiness, seemingly from the yeast, with some floral hops that get lost in the soft, round, moderately sweet and creamy malts. Very low carbonation, with some light sharpness from hop bitterness on end that works well against the malts. No alcohol presence in flavor or aroma. Hmm, will definitely give it another try if I can get my hands on another bottle as something was definitely wrong here. It’s too bad too, because the beer had a lovely texture/mouthfeel.

Tap @ Barclay’s. Copper color, clear with a small white head. Extremely piney nose with some hints of grapefruit. Burns going down, though very flavorful. Nice bitter finish, almost tasted like a borderline IIPA without the alcohol presence.

Bottle courtesy of Gondor. Dirty, hazy copper with minimal head. Huge bitter pine and citrus aroma. Pine resin almost burns your nose. Flavor much the same, very bitter pine resin up front, with just enough sweet caramel malt to balance through the middle. Very chewy on the palate, but finishes very dry and crisp. Would like to see the IBUs on this thing, as it’s hopped up enough to maybe be on the lower end of the IIPAs. Probably a tad underated IMO.