Great Lakes Commodore Perry IPA

Huge thanks to Degarth for giving me this beer and crizay for sending it south. Pours a clear deep gold with a faint hue of copper running up the center. The white head hung around for a while. The aroma is on the mild side with grapefruit to orange rind citrus hops with faint malt sweetness hiding out the back. A mouth full of this elixir yields a grapefruit and slightly under ripe orange hop bitterness with faint savory malt sweetness. By midway the hop flavor becomes increasingly more bitter as the malty sweetness wanes. This mostly citrus hop bitterness and residual malt sweetness ride the flavor experience straight into the after taste. Nice IPA.

At first, there was a sweet piney aroma, then as it warmed a bit I got intense grapefruit. Pours gold with a small white head and nice lacing down the glass. Flavor is an intense hoppy grapefruit flavor. There is a mild cereal malt similar to the malt I got in the Dortmunder Gold actually, but it is mostly a hop bomb. This is damn good. Not too dry or resiny which is surprising. More or less a medium body. I like this IPA alot. I need to get more beer from this brewery.

12oz. Bottle: Medium-sweet aroma. Smells of hops, pineapple, pine, citrus, and tropical fruit. Poured golden with a hint of amber in color with a medium-sized off-white head that lasted throughout. No lacing. Clear. Ever so slightly sparkling. Flavor is lightly to medium bitter. Tastes of hops, pine, grass, resin, and grapefruit. Medium body. Slick texture. Average carbonation. Resiny bitter finish is short-lived. Overall, a good IPA, but not standout.

Crystal Orange, no head to speak of. Grapefruit and maybe a hint of resin in the aroma. Very sticky, earthy resiny hop flavor dominates. Some peppery, spicy notes, as well. Long, sticky aftertaste.

(Bottle, Monk’s Café, Wallingatan, Stockholm) Golden amber colour with frothy, beige head. Fruity, hoppy nose with orange, apricots and grainy malt. Fruity, malty taste with notes of orange peel, grapefruit and generous doses of earthy, citrussy hops in the finish. More than medium body with a solid malt foundation and some sweetness throughout. Very nice IPA with a good balance between hops and malt.

Bottle. Golden clear colour with a little head. Nice aroma of caramel, malt and hops. Flavour of a lot of hops combined with some maltness. Very nice and bitter at the end.

Pinky gold with virtually no head. Volatile, sweet floral aroma. Velvety, woody, well-buffered. The Brewmaster did an excellent job of buffering this out and balancing it. High ABV, but dry. Acids threaten, but are blunted. Medium body. Some off malt flavors at the end, but very good.

[383-20070630] Tap @ Great Lakes (Cleveland, OH). Sweet orange citrus hops aroma with a touch of lychee. Clear, orange amber body with a medium-quick white head. Pretty citrusy hops flavour. Bitter and dry initially, medium-full body. Pleasant, hides the alcohol well.