Great Crescent IPA

Brewed by Great Crescent Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Aurora, Indiana USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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This draft brew from a beer festival poured a small sized head of frothy medium sized off-white colored bubbles that were and left behind a softly carbonated slightly hazy orange colored body. The aroma was mild floral and hoppy. The crisp mouth feel was tingly at the start and at the finish. The nice flavor contained notes of hops. An OK brew just nothing special.

Cloudy bright golden amber with a good 1/2" head, dotted lace. Clean caramel leads the way, quickly shared by a solid floral hoppiness midpoint, giving way again to caramel at the finish. Well-balanced - surprisingly good. Not sure it really is an IPA (due to the somewhat mild hop character), but if it drinks well, who cares? Recommended

Aroma of caramel/nutty malt with a fairly light resin hop presence. Appearance is tinted caramel with creamy bone head. The flavor is malt forward, with the hops taking on a more medicinal quality. Palate is very bubbly and soft. A very drinkable IPA, but this may be one instance (for me) where a little more hop character would have been desired.

Bottle sample at the Elevator tasting at Ale Wine & Spirits on 4/13/12. Clear amber color with a medium beige head. Aroma of sweet malt, caramel and grain. Not much hop. Flavor of grainy malt and a bit of grassy hop.

On tap at Fries Cafe. Cool darker red color, for an IPA. Nice white head. Good lace. Pleasant, kind of malty hoppy taste with a good aftertaste. Nice tropical citrus fruitiness.. But not enough. Kind of a light aroma. Lighter, soft carbonation, dry texture. Mostly sweet, light bitter taste. Decent IPA, fruity, and on the malty side. Friends had a few tastes... Annie thought it had an "oaky-blood aftertaste". Alicia said it was "pleasant, but not impressive".

16 oz can courtesy of shrubber85. Deep, hazy amber with fluffy, creamy, off-white head. Aroma of skunky hops and caramel corn. Flavor is more put together. Citrus and mild grapefruit hopping. A hint of the sweet caramel backbone malt. While the hop flavor is a bit scaled back, it is decent. A residual citrus hop bitterness. Could use a fresh dose of dry hops.

Can. Orange, sour milk and light ctirus hops aroma. Amber color with large white head. Sweet orange, light caramel malt, and moderately bitter citrus peel flavor. Decent enough - a bit light on the hops.

Can. Clear amber body. White, fizzy head, slowly diminishing. Mild aroma of raw, leafy hops with hints of caramel and citrus. The flavor is moderately sweet and lightly bitter. It finishes lightly to moderately sweet and lightly to moderately bitter. Medium body, watery texture and lively carbonation. Certainly not a hop-forward IPA which is fine. It’s the leafy hop taste that drags this down from what could have been a clean, crisp, slightly bitter IPA. A bit of a mess.

Pours murky amber with a retentive head, Nose has a distinct vegetable or creamed corn aroma really dominating what ever else might be in there. Really there isn’t a whole lot to say about it. There is some serious fermentation flaws here. If the brewer is reading please take this in a positive way. Just resolve the issue. I will try again and re-rate.

16 ounce can. Served in a pint glass, the beer pours a mostly clear orange/amber color with about an inch and a half frothy off-white head. Head retention is good, and there’s a lot of lacing left behind on the glass. Aroma is some floral hops and sweet malt, but the aroma isn’t too strong at all. Luckily the taste is stronger. The brew tastes like floral, earthy and grassy hops, and some caramel malt. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it’s a bit slick and creamy with good carbonation. It’s also smooth and easy to drink. It’s a good brew, I liked it. Definitely worth trying.

Growler purchased directly from brewery. Brewer suggested that the growler’s keep longer than most as long as you don’t open it as they have a process that removes excess air. I’d concur as I’ve had mine over a month and still had excellent carbonation. Cloudy copper amber color with a nice foamy head. Faint levels of floral and grassy notes in the beer. Not the hoppy bitterness that I would expect, but very smooth and strong taste of citrus, pine with some grass and hay notes. More of an English IPA than an American IPA. Good carbonation as mentioned above. Medium mouthfeel with a lingering finish of pine and grassy earth notes. Very smooth and refreshing and easy to drink. Goes down nicely on a hot summer day. Not the real hoppy American IPA some would expect, but rather more mild and gentle hop profile.