Glenwood Canyon Vapor Cave IPA

Brewed by Glenwood Canyon Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Glenwood Springs, Colorado USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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Draft at brewery: Light golden-amber. Decent body -- smooth, lively carbonation with an underlying softness. Malts were lightly sweet and cookie-ish. Hops built with time; had a little electricity ... grassy and very flowery ... kind of stark at times. Average IPA.

Aroma: caramel, bread, grass. Appearance: golden-amber, clear, white foam, slight lacing. Taste: medium hoppy, sweetness. Palate: medium body, long lasting carbonation, mildly astringent. Overall: I like this brew. It’s not the best or even a perfect IPA, but it’s a great easy drink. It’s not over hoppy like many are these days. It was a nice, cold draught.

clear honey with no head. looks like still apple juice. mild to medium acidity, medium bitterness. nutty, chalky and syrupy all at once. resinous and flabby. pretty poor excuse for IPA.

UPDATED: OCT 13, 2010 The last of the Glenwood Canyons. And still only the beginning of this "user agreement" debacle. Not a fan of IPA’s, but I respect them for existing.

From tap, this clear pour light yellow. It had little head and next to no lacing. Nose was slight resin with little fruit. Thin pallet with lots of carbonation.Not as hoppy as I would have expected and little sweeter than I care for in an IPA.

I got a chance to drink a glass from a growler a friend brought back from the brewery. Orange color with a slight grassiness to the aroma. The flavor was more malty than hoppy but was a nice departure from the hop-bombs everyone seems to be calling IPA’s.. nice beer, easy to drink and no hint of the 6.5% in the flavor. Serving type: growler Reviewed on: 05-04-2008 23:08:32

Had this brew at the All Colorado Beer Fest 08". Aroma is low with just a hint of hops. Color is a light gold with fair carbonation and a thin ring for a head. It starts with a lighter body that goes down crisp. Finish is a light malt flavor with a bitter bite on the end. This is a thin weak IPA.

UPDATED: OCT 15, 2007 The mountains of Colorado harbor many niches, nooks and crannies, within which lie a bounty of hidden mines, towns and even the occasional bakery (Silver Plume). Glenwood Springs is not what you’d call a quaint mountain town, exactly, but it’s not a global tourism destination either. Home to a therapeutic hot springs, it sees its fair share of visitors, and those who do go get a chance to visit the local brewpub: Glenwood Canyon Brewing Company. It is by no means an infamous brewery, or a landmark in craft beer, but it provides better beer to a town with one foot still in the past, and that makes it all the more charming. My family and I ordered a sampler to get a well rounded taste of the offerings, and I came away reasonably impressed, considering my expectations. The fourth beer that came with the sampler was the Vapor Cave IPA, named after one of many nearby geological points of interest. At first glance it is a sickening sight. The hue of the beer is a direct mimicry of urine, with no head and an otherwise dead, disinterested appearance. The aroma is altogether different, redolent with the scents of maple syrup, caramel and frosting. For an IPA it is shockingly sweet, exhibiting a scent profile profoundly different from other sugary smells. However, in a second sleight of hand the beer returns to its original impression, suddenly sudsy, bitter and keeping only a slight honey sweetness from the magnificent aroma. The colder, the sweeter, but a little warmth makes this IPA uncomfortably bitter. The steep decline in quality from the olfactory to the tongue is tragic, but true, leaving this beer another disappointment in a motley mix of good and bad on Glenwood Springs’ Sampler offer.

on tap-pours a white head and gold color. Aroma is citrus hops. Taste is citrus hops with a bite, secondary malt. Good carbonation, mostly hits front of tongue.

Draught. Pours brass with a medium foamy off-white head that lasts, sticky lacing. Aroma is caramel malt, floral and fruity hops and sour yeast (sweat). Medium bitterness and acidity, malty and nutty flavor, hoppy finish. Medium bodied and clean, dry palate.

I had this on my way through Glenwood Springs where we stopped for lunch at the Glenwood Canyon Brewing Company. When I asked the waitress about it, she said it was "very hoppy." Overall, this wasn’t a bad IPA, and was pleasant enough with the meal that I had. However, it was not hoppy in the same way that Alpha King or Hop Devil is. More of a traditional English IPA, with a medium mouthfeel and a nice caramel malt backbone. Looked nice in the glass, showing a clear copper and quite a nice lasting white head. The finish had a thirst quenching bitterness. Easily drinkable and enjoyable as an accompaniment to the meal.