Il Vicino Wet Mountain India Pale Ale

Brewed by Il Vicino Pizzeria and Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Albuquerque, New Mexico USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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UPDATED: JAN 6, 2003 NICKNAMED ’THE MEAT’ the king of all American IPA"s, Wet Mountain is by far the best of them all! This beer smells like a pine forest on a cool morning! Very crisp and clean, and very very powerful!You must go to Il"s whenever you are in Colorado and sample this beer straight from the tap. Also try the food it is very good indeed.

one of the best IPA’s I had in a bottle

UPDATED: JUL 18, 2007 Deep red with a solid head and bountiful hop aroma. Awesomely balanced creamy hoppiness. The perfect blend of grain flavors and hops. I love Il Vicino beers, two of which are the only ones I’ve rated as 5’s.

One of my favorite IPAs. Unfortunately, the bottled has become impossible to find in Albuquerque.

Pours a glowing hazy copper orange with an off-white head that goes to a soapy film that leaves some lacing.

The aroma is sweet sugary caramel and toffee malts, some figs, and some piney, resinous woody hops.

Its flavor is sweet caramel and toffee initially leading to a piney hop bang with a long sticky bitter aftertaste. The mouthfeel is smooth and velvety with just the right amount of carbonation, but does seem slightly watery at times.

Overall an excellent IPA! Vey nicely balanced.

UPDATED: JAN 4, 2006 I love the apperance of this beer. I love the deep orange, rusty body and creamy orange tinged head. Aroma of grapefruit, pine, rich malt. The taste characteristics are what good IPA’s strive for. A strong grapefruit citrus front accompanied by heavy malts. And with a backbone of dried aprocots. The body of this IPA is wonderfully thick, letting all the flavors fully come out.

Thanks to BeerandBlues2 for this brew--which I greatly enjoyed. The pour was a nice hazy orange and brown color, Aroma is a great hoppy aroma that doesn’t overpower you with cloying sweet smells that you get from many IIPA’s. The palate is so nice--perfect carbonation and very smooth. Great balanced flavor right off the bat. Easy to drink and the perfect amount of bitterness and caramel/biscuit flavors make this really enjoyable. I won’t soon forget this one...

UPDATED: DEC 7, 2003 3/7/02: I was hoping this beer would surface on this site... I've been holding my notes on it for about 6 months now, but didn't know the brewery name. Anyway, I enjoyed it quite a bit; a fine beer from a fine state. Big malt flavor, complemented by atypically zingy hops. And what I mean by 'atypical' is that they seemed to have some really interesting flavors and aromas. They really opened my eyes... and had me guessing. They were somewhat piney, but not your typical 'Cascade piney.' I found it a little cloying, but I overlooked it as soon as the hops followed through. I'll have to try another one of these next time I'm in CO. Maybe even one day on tap? Really good stuff. 2/18/03: Alas, it surfaces again! (Recently, an Il Vicino opened in Denver, but I haven't made it there yet). I knew the Il Vicino brewery in Salida closed, but the bottled IPA lives on, with the help of Bristol Brewing (Colorado Springs, CO) - thanks Bristol! The beer is just as good, if not better, from what I remembered. Crystal clear with a brilliant copper hue. Sweet, sugary and inviting nose. First sip was like a warm welcome! Powerful malt backbone, rich and slightly sweet. Wonderful mouthfeel lets its presence known. Something about the hop wallop really does it for me. It's intense, yet balanced... and not over-intense: Earthy, grassy, zingy, rich and flavorful. God, what a great IPA! I've found my new staple, which will replace my dearly missed HopDevil.

12 oz bottle from BeerAnd Blues2. Hazy amber in color with minimal head. Faint grass and citrus in the nose. Rather malty upfront, kind of thick, with a pleasant dose of citric bitterness. Flavor abounds with caramel sweetness, perfumy centennials with a resinous aftertaste. A great beer. Thanks Brad!

UPDATED: FEB 3, 2007 Brewed locally, this beer is always fresh and hoppy on draught, unlike the bottled version contract brewed by Bristol in Colorado, which is essentially a completely different beer. Excellent malty backbone followed by a nice hop kick. Like "huffing hops" my friend says. I’ve consumed this beer in various incarnations including regular draft, MELVINized (read: RANDALLized), on cask, MELVINized from a cask (the basis for my ratings scores), bottled (by Bristol) and with different hop profiles. Consistently good regardless and always provides a fresh, well-balanced hop fix with a little something underneath to make it more than just a hop ride. Remarkably drinkable and great with food. A local favorite and New Mexico’s flagship beer.