Free State C3 IPA

Brewed by Free State Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Lawrence, Kansas USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   add pic

I hate to be that guy, and then again, am I drinking a completely different beer. Or is everyone enamored with Free State so much that they are too biased by the old ratings? Either way, this beer is extremely overrated, as far as I am concerned. Tap at the 20th Anniversary celebration. Color is clear amber. Aroma is thick with yeastiness (dough) and lots of sweet biscuit malts. All this really hides the cube-ness of their hoppiness. The hops come off sticky and there is too much residual sweetness. This is mimicked in the flavor as it becomes a bit cloying for me. Its also very candy-like in the mix of residual sugars and hops. Its fine as an IPA but nothing special, I’ll take the Copperhead any day.

Bottle from csbosox. Lots of citrus and some sweet malt in the aroma. Dark reddish brown body with no head. Medium palate with very little carbonation. Plenty of citrus and caramel malt in the flavor. I would like to try this fresh to get a better feel for it.

On draft in tulip at brewery Aroma: floral and peaches. Appearance: light copper color with 2 finger frothy head. He's faded quickly Taste: very hoppy. Sweet at first follow by bitter. But balanced well palate: Light crisp and refreshing. Very thin but pleasing. Overall: very good ipa. Lots of hops. I like it but would prefer a bit more sweetness ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

A lovely 22oz hand bottle from moejuck, thanks Joe! Pours a cloudy orange copper with 30 bubbles for a head. Tangerine and grapefruit are the first aromas. There is the slightest hint of burnt plastic, but very faint and seems to be coming from the tangerine characteristic. There is also a bit of caramel. Flavor is much more bitter than the aroma led on with a good amount of caramel sweetness to help balance it out. The finish is bitter with some sweet biscuity malts. Bitterness peaks around a 5 (out of 10). Burps burnt plastic. Having almost no carbonation kinda thins this out a bit too much, but I can’t give it a two since I know the beer isn’t actually like that. I think Free State is pretty darn good, and this is pretty good too, but I don’t think it’s a 4.0 beer--maybe if I was sitting in the brewpub, though this doesn’t taste like the hops have died out in this yet.