Hermitage Single HOP Amarillo

Brewed by Hermitage Brewing Co.
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
San Jose, California USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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A vigorous pour into my large Tripel Karmeliet tulip with a three finger thick, amber tinged, tan colored head; it even leaves a fair amount of layered lacing on the sides of my glass. The beer is a dark amber color that shows a lightly hazed, ruby tinged, full amber color when held up to the light. The aroma smells thick with crystal malt notes, ripe citrus zest, lychee and toasted-caramelized-whole-grain bread. The malt character seems to have a mustiness to it somehow.

The beer tastes of crystal malt, bitter hops, caramelized lychee, caramelized sweet tea, bitter green herbs, and pine sap. There is definitely a heavy handed crystal malt character; it does lend a spicy whole grain character, but much of it is a bit distracting. The crystal malt character seems to actually reduce the usual, bright, tropical fruit notes from the Amarillo hops. Surprisingly there is a bitter, herbal and pine character that I don’t usually associate with this hop. As the beer warms up a bit some of the sharper, herbal hop notes smooth out a little; though the herbaceous pine and bitter hop notes still linger quite prominently in the finish. The body is somewhat viscous and chewy, definitely a bit more than I prefer in an IPA, though this is not so chewy as to be annoying.

This is definitely a bit of a letdown; I really like Amarillo hops and was looking forward to this beer, but the crystal malt has definitely been a bit too much of a distraction in this beer and the Amarillo hops don’t have the bright fruitiness that I usually expect. Still, I am enjoying this beer enough to finish my bottle quite easily.

Bomber from Bevmo Salinas. Nose is citrus, caramel, and a hint of bubblegum. Interesting nose. Clear copper with a medium, lightly lacing, beige head. Flavor is bitter with some light, contrasting sweetness. The hint of malty bubblegum comes through all the way into the bitter finish. My favorite of their 4 single hop brews.

better than the admiral! pours copper and has a malty aroma. Taste earthy and finishes bitter.

Bottle; poured an orange amber with a slightly frothy, off white head. Aroma of hay, barnyard, earth and bread. Flavor was a touch watery, and not all that great.

Poured into a shaker. I really thought Amarillo would be the best of these. Its OK, but none of these single hop beers were amazing. I’m thinking the base malt recipe is not so great. Citrus aroma and flavor. Flavor is pretty clean though, and palate us light and watery.

22 ounce from Bev Mo. Copper with ring. Old musty vegetal aroma with hint of citrus and caramel. Toasted sticky vegetal caramel musty fruit with medium nondescript bitterness. Pretty gross. I should have known: if Bev Mo has it on special, it must be way too old.

Bomber pours clear copper with light tan head. The aroma is influenced by sugary malts followed by herbally – earthy – spicy hops. Nice. The taste has a pleasing level of bold spicy hops where the earthiness has a slight herbally black tea note with some citrus hop flavors around the edges. This tasty hoppiness is both bitter and flavor and stays pretty much the same into the finish. Good stuff.

22 oz. bottle from BevMo - Pours a hazy amber color with a 3/4 finger thick off white head. Very light tiny spot lacing. Aroma is fruity esters, pine hops, and toasted malt. Flavor is much of the same with more malt showing through. Finish is slightly astringent and dry. Medium body. A decent IPA.

22 ounce bottle purchased at BevMo in Natomas, CA. Mostly grassy/piney/herbal hop bitterness present. A little caramel sweetness is also underlying. A little metallic and medicinal, too. Transparent light amber/dark copper body with a smallish off-white head that is fairly rapidly dissipating. Attractive. Starts a little herbal and a bit spicy to start. Some husky, burnt, chewy maltiness in the middle. Finishes a little more bitter and fairly herbal. Lacking sweetness, and a little too dry and burnt for me. Lacks the balance I would like.

Bomber, dated 3/9/11, poured into a tulip glass. Looks rather dark for an IPA, settling to a nice copper hue with a fluffy khaki head. The hops jump out of the glass, cooked apples at first, then turning slightly smokey, before at last becoming crystal malty. Flavor is very green, leafy (almost vegetal at times), and herbal with a big dose of oversteeped tea underneath. Uncanny Earl Gray notes here with caramel in the malt profile as well. Significant astringency covers the palate and muddies the bitterness. I’d expect a fruitier profile from Amarillo hops. This is less an Amarillo showcase and more a hop astringency showcase. This misses the mark, by a lot.