Hermitage Single HOP Citra

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

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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The beer sits in my large Tripel Karmeliet tulip with a hazy looking amber color, but shows a clear, deeply red stained, dark copper hue when held up to the light. The head starts out at an almost three-finger thick, pale tan color that leaves some nice lacing on the sides of my glass. The aroma smells strongly hoppy with big candied citrus, dank tropical fruit notes, lots of lychee and a hint of pine / herbal character. The dank herbal hop character becomes more present after my firs assessment, but this still remains a hop fruit focused aroma; dank, tropical fruit does seem like quite an appropriate description of the aroma though.

A bit colder than I prefer, which accentuates a bitter herbal finish that intermingles with a crystal malt influenced sweet tea flavor and toasted grain character. The herbal notes have a dank quality to it that gets a bit more present as it warms up. It also has a pine sap edge that lingers on the palate along with the bitterness. The herbaceous & bitter side of the hop character definitely plays the more dominant role here in the flavor (the opposite of the nose). As the beer warms up though, the fruitiness becomes more prominent with a lush lychee note, a bright tangerine zest note. The malt character is actually fairly well tamed by the ample hop character; it perhaps is a bit more crystal malt focused than my Ideal IPA, but the hop character is interesting enough that I don’t mind much. The body is perhaps a touch more viscous than I would like, but it is still fairly quaffable for a beer of this size. As the beer warms up the alcohol can be perhaps a touch much with a spicy, slightly rough note towards the finish.

This certainly seems to be knocked a bit down due to its heritage, it is not nearly as bad as that, and there is certainly enough hop character to at least do a half-way decent job of distracting you from the heavier crystal malt useage. The Citra hop itself is a nice mix of herbal, fruit and danker hop notes that one likes to see in an IPA, and this is easily on par with the Samuel Adams Latitude 48 hop series.

Nice deep copper coloured body with an amber glow and a thick, three centimetre tall tan head - very nice looking, especially for an IPA. Aroma of bright grassy and herbal hops with a bit of sugars, some caramel and a bunch of malt noticeable. Light to Medium-bodied; Grassy and herbal hoppiness up front that fades fairly quickly and just shows malt, caramel, cardboard and a bit of light earth at the end. Aftertaste is fairly simple with only malt and a touch of grassy and earthy hops noticeable. Overall, not such a great beer, I’ve had other single hop citra productions that were much better in showcasing the hops, but this one is a bit flat, one dimensional and doesn’t show enough of the hops to really get through. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from BevMo! in San Bruno, California on 05-March-2012 for US$3.99 sampled at home in Washington before heading back out to California in a few hours, on 30-April-2012.

Bomber poured a clear orange amber with a lasting amber head. Aromas of carmel, earthiness, citrus and light pine. Palate was medium bodied and crisp with a dry finish. Flavors of carmel, earthiness, light grapefruit and a hint of pine with a crisp dry lingering bitter finish.

Bomber from BevMo Salinas. Nose is pine, grapefruit, and a hint of molasses and tobacco. Hazy copper with a medium, lightly lacing, light beige head. Flavor is bitter with a hint of pine.

Bottle; not expecting too much. Poured a dark amber color with not much head. Aroma was pungent and quite good. Grapefruit, citrus, caramel, earth and fruity yeast. Flavor was ok, not great. Earthy and citrus, but maybe lacking a little something special.

Medium white foam, medium yellow in color with orange’ish notes. smells of mango, tropical fruits, citrusy. taste overwhelms the mouth with both bitterness and notes of tropical fruits. clear citrus and even grapefruit. fills out the mouth with bitterness in a pleasent way. long aftertaste of citrus and bitterness

Bomber pours clear copper with off white head. The aroma offers up grapefruit, resiny bitter hops, a touch of acidity, sweeter malt notes, orange juice and orange peel. The taste is much the same with grapefruit, tangelo and orange like citrus hop notes mixing with lighter sweet malts flavors in the background. At times the hops get fairly bitter and the resininess helps to create a somewhat dry finish.

22 oz. bottle from deftim13- thanks, Tim! Pours a somewhat cloudy amber-tinted orange with a small white film for a head. Explosive aroma of orange, tropical fruits, herbs, sweaty socks, sweet malts, and wet grass. Flavor of rain water, soggy cereal, citrus fruits, peaches, sweet malts, and an off-putting note that tastes like a wet dog smells. Light-bodied, with moderate carbonation and a dry finish. The flavor isn’t necessarily bad, but presents a lot of odd notes that don’t match the aroma at all.

Spicy, vegetal and slightly musky aroma. Bright, clear light orange/copper with a puffy off-white head. Dank, vegetal bitterness with a bit of citrus pith and peach on the edges. Like the others in this series, a good malt backbone to support the single hop bitterness without getting in the way. Enjoyable IPA and another interesting study in a particular hop variety.

22 oz bottle. Nice citrus aroma. Pours copper with a thick head and lots of lacing. Grapefruit and orange peel flavor. Malty. Dry finish with a short bitter finish. ABV well hidden. Ok, but many other ipa’s out there that are much better.

Bottle, nice hoppy aroma and malty flavor, but not enough hop bite for me.