Town Hall Masala Mama IPA

Brewed by Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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A- Pours a deep transparent orange color with a nice, thick, chewy, off white head. S- Smell is dominated by citrus and grapefruity hops with some sweet caramel malt in the background. T- Nice and bready, substantive with citrus notes all the way through. A very bitter grapefruit finish stays on the tongue long after the brew is gone. M- Medium bodied with ample carbonation. D- This was an excellent IPA. I went in this expecting to be disappointed because of it’s high rating (which I thought it couldn’t live up to) but I was certainly wrong. If this was available around here it would be my go to.

Utter deliciousness. Went to Minnesota for a doctor’s appointment, and, lo and behold, thirteen feet from my hotel is Town Hall brewery. The beer gods smiled upon me on this trip. Masala mama is a beautiful IPA, piney but with a huge swath of grapefruit and orange, with a lovely green herbal fade. The malts give the beer a nice comfy padding that keeps the IBUs from ruining the party, yet the hops are still given plenty of space to party down. The texture is scary smooth, meaning the pint disappears startlingly quick. World class IPA, and the flat iron steak at the restaurant is pretty damn good as well.

Poured in to my surly pint glass out of my growler. Pours a bright amber with a two finger head. Aroma of hops and almost a butterscotch malty note. Taste follows the nose very tasty and smooth. If I lived in MN this would be my go-to beer!

Hazy amber with an average off-white head. Aroma is of toffee, caramel, citrus, mango, pineapple, and floral. Taste is of citrus, caramel, grass, and tropical fruit.

Growler from Mike. The beer is copper colored, beige colored head, and clear. The smell is tropical fruit aromas, papya, hops, pepper, spicy, and good. The taste is a good smooth bitterness, fruits, lot of fruits, hops, and good.

On tap @ the brewery. Bright amber brew with lots of sticky white head. I had this on tap and cask, side by side, and the cask version had a head that lasted forever. Aromas of bready malt, citrus, and pine. Flavors of grapefruit and pine with a nice malt backbone making this quite balanced.

UPDATED: APR 11, 2012 Growler thanks to mtjoseph during Free Beer Week! Thanks! Copper looking pour with minimal head. Aroma is a nice mix of grass and tropical hops. Flavor is nice and hoppy but odd. There is grain and soap and very English like hops. It’s ok but nothing like I’d hoped. Medium body with a soft round mouthfeel.

Thanks SJ. For a regular IPA (Not Imperial) The aroma is a full floral and citrus blast. A nice mild caramel and pine flavor that finishes sweet and with notes of hop cone bitterness.

From notes. First reviewed 6/21/2010. Poured 6/19 from a growler filled on 6/17 into a pint glass. Masala Mama has a very dark appearance for an IPA, a dark copper color with a fluffy off-white head. Good head retention, and nice sticky lace is all over the glass. The aroma is hoppy, but less than I would have expected. Earthy and pine notes predominate, but there are citrus notes as well. The malt aroma is bready. The flavor is very balanced, but I felt it was missing something. The bready malt was soft, the pine and earthy hops were subtle. The grapefruit flavor was really the only flavor to push through strongly. Finished mildly bitter. It has a pleasantly creamy feel, with slightly above average carbonation. Not much residue remains from the hop oil. This was a quaffable brew with a nice smoothness, but there was nothing that really catapulted this over the top. Although I am glad I was fortunate enough to try it, I will not go crazy to seek it out again.

Poured on tap at Town Hall Brewery into a pint glass. A. 1.5 finger thick head, golden red hue, soft for ring ever after sitting S. Smells sweet, grape fruit, pine and lots of citrus T. The tastes is sweet, slightly bready, a tiny bit bitter like grapefruit, and a little bit tart. Light pine overtone. M. Medium body, mildly chewy with a very wet finish. Very easy to drink O. This is a great beer. A go-to anytime IPA for me. I could drink this every weekend. Wait! I do! Great flavor and easy to drink keeps you coming back for more

On cask. Clear copper with a thick white head that lasts. Up front hop aroma, citrus, sweet, hidden freshly ground 2row malt aroma. Pine/resin flavor up front, slightly grassy too, lightly sweet, needs more malt for balance Medium body, strong hop bitter finish, too bitter. This is a good double IPA, not IPA