El Toro IPA

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

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

12 oz bottle via Irishboy (thanks man!). THis beer comes out hazy and amber with an average size chunky beige head. Nose is floral, citrus and grassy hops. Taste is all about the hops. Orange, pine and tons of grapefruit that lingers a looong while into the aftertaste. Dry finish. A bit metallic and astringent as well. Body is light, carbonation is average. I think less bittering and more flavoring hops would do this one well.

Bottle from BevMo online. Brew 1202. Slightly hazy amber/golden color upon pouring. Super hoppy, sticky skunk bud aroma. Super hoppy flavors with a hint of sweetness. A bit of a malt. Finished if with a dry citrus peel bitterness. Extremely bitter.

Picked up a single 12-oz bottle at Brennan’s Country Farm Market in Brookfield, Wisconsin. Pours a semi-clear light amber brew with a thick off-white head that has some good retention and lacing. Aroma of strong citrus zest and pine character that over powers any malt or fruity bread scents. Taste is medium bodied, light carbonated with a fruity citrus zest flavor that even has some black pepper, pineapple and white pine. Finish is fruity at first and then a mild bitterness that lingers around long after the finish. An average IPA, but still drinkable.

El Toro is a brewery that has impressed me greatly ever since I had my first beer from them via beeronthewall.com. Sadly, I think that somehow these guys have gotten a ham-and-egger reputation, and subsequently have gotten far less respect than they deserve. At any rate, this one pours turbid orangy colored with a big, bold, 3-finger off-white head. Aroma is heavy hops, tropical and citrus fruit, including tangerine, pineapple, honeydew, plus black pepper and a decent caramel malt bill. It tastes very citric, floral, somewhat dry, with the tangerine and pineapple hoppy flavors dominating, and the malt perhaps taking a bit of a back seat, but never so much that the beer felt off balance to me. This is a true hop lovers dream, with solid complexity and a great mouthfeel.

Poured a clear dull copper with big off white head. A nice size grapefruit hop aroma comes at you like a slap in the face (have I been bad?). Yummy aroma is the short description. I get big fresh citrusy grapefruit hops bitterness hiding a faint sweet caramelized malt backbone way out the back. The taste is refreshing and attains nice balance for an IPA. Yep, balance. I taste a load of grapefruit hop bitterness quickly followed up by caramelized, faint biscuit and roasted malts. The hops amount to the lion share of the flavor but the malts fight hard enough to be heard over the citrus onslaught.

Pours hazy gold, aroma full of pine resins, flowers, hops. Small foamy head. So far, so good. Flavor is quite strong pine that comes across dry and crisp. Hops are there, but is overwhelmed by strong pine resins. Very grassy palate flavor. An OK IPA, but it was a little disappointing overall for me.

Light amber color. Pine sap aroma. Flavor is mostly strong pine w very little malt backing. Extremely dry finish. Very resinous. A good hop centered West Coast IPA.

Draft at Jack’s Bar in the Fisherman’s Wharf area. Small ivory head that fully lasted throughout the duration of drinking this IPA, a fair amount of lacing, fast-rising carbonation, and an orangish hue. Nose was hoppy, grapefruit, pine notes and citrus. Ditto for the flavor with a dry finish. Mouthfeel was fairly clean and dry. A one-dimensional IPA that was rather tasty as I sat at the outdoor bar in what was a beautiful clear sunny California Saturday afternoon. Doesn’t get any better than this!