Harmon Point Defiance IPA

Brewed by Harmon Brewery & Restaurant
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Tacoma, Washington USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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Barrel Draught from the jug at the GABF, Colorado Convention Center 30/09/2005 Golden coloured strong in alcohol and hoppy. Crisp bitter finish.

$3.29/bomber at Bottleworks. Dark copper color...good head that goes away pretty quickly. Not much lacing. Strong grapefruit smell, don’t pick up much else...very nice though. Oh wow....very tasty IPA. Heavy hops throughout, but not too sharp. A bit of bitterness at the end. I love the hops, and I love this. The malt keeps the hops in check a bit. Grapefruit and pine all over the place. Yum.

best IPA ive ever had, damn its sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good. too bad the brewmaster is a wanker.

Draught Pint at Redbones on 11/22/2005. Pours a deeply hazy, copper-amber with some slight pinkish-grapefruit skin tinges and a foamy off-white head extremely dense yet small, formed of minute bubbles. Lacing is left all the way down the glass. Aroma of light citrus (grapefruit, oranges, lemons) and an odd, almost dirty/soily, mineral-like yeastiness. Don’t find any roasted notes, though they refer to roasted Belgian barley in the description. Malts are lightly grainy, touch biscuity at best, with no caramel sweetness. Flavor begins with dry grapefruit notes, light biscuit malt and that same earthy/soily, dusty (hard to describe it exactly) note, that is quite pervasive. Little sweet malt to be had, though the substantial, unfiltered texture provides support for the hop flavor, and moderate bitterness. Light notes of pale grains, malt husks and b-vitamin rich yeast. Centennial hops are quite distinctive in the flavor, reminds me much of Andrews Golden ale from Maine in that regard (that uses cascades/centennial when the amarillos arent available). But far less juicy, fruity amarillo influence than I would expect. As it warms, a honeyish malt flavor grows and better balances the dry, dusty, earthy notes, as well as the citrusy hops. Body is medium, with a very tight carbonation creating almost a frothy texture. No alcohol apparency, hop flavor lingers.

Pours a dark amber, small white head. Aroma is citrus hops, lemon, pine needles. Flavor is sweet, still balanced with a strong malt backing. Grapefruit and pine needles are the body with a wet sloppy finish!

Poured a dark cloudy orange with a white head. The aroma had citrus, toffee and peanuts. The taste was sweet with oranges. There was also toast and some honey. Almonds in the finish. Good, but not interesting.

Hazy amber body. Stemmy orange/lime aroma, light caramel backing. Hop-forward flavor (grass stem, lemon rid) with bready caramel malt.

Caramel color, thin head, light lacing. Nose of diacetyle and nice grassy and piney hops. Earthy, light and with a splash of butterscotch. The flavor explodes with butter but is still focused on the sweet hops. The finish is balanced, nice and rich. Lingering fragrance and a pronounced character.

Truly fantastic! The mandarin oranges are leaping out of the bottle courtesy of the Amarillos. Poured slowly (to avoid that yeast cake on the bottom) fairly flat orange/amber pour with small head that oozes lace. Juicy hop flavor bounces with oranges, lemon/lime and tangerines. Enough malt to keep it respectable. Great brew, many thanks to André again!

(22 oz bottle: $3.75 at the brewery) So, for an IPA, it has a very woody, sweet, and caramely nose, along with tea and hops aromas that I normally associate with double IPAs. In fact, everything in the nose really does remind me of a double IPA. Grapefruit hoppiness starts off early in the flavor, and then an herbal tea and woody, caramely, and smoky maltiness picks up some steam in the finish for a wonderfully balanced and, quite frankly, delicious beer. Medium-to-full bodied, moderate carbonation levels, and a long-lasting palate. Dark amber color, slightly hazy in appearance. The light-tan head pours to a quarter-inch height, and though it fades to a broken sheen, it is easily rejuvenated by a quick swirl. Lacing is pretty minimal. But in terms of pure drinking enjoyment, this is just a phenomenal "basic" IPA, at least as good as many double IPAs, and without the high alcohol. Wish I bought a case of this instead of just 2 bottles.