Ithaca Excelsior! alpHalpHa

Brewed by Ithaca Beer Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Ithaca, New York USA

Serve in Shaker, Snifter

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This one is criminally under-rated. Bottle from Smitty’s and Capone’s. Batch #E!019. Oh, and this beer may just have the best and most appropriate name of any beer I have ever had. Alpha acids, pH, the fact that alfalfa is a grain, just awesome. Pours turbid dark straw with 3-fingers of white head that form a milkshakey appearance. Nose is heavy florals, honey, jasmine, black pepper, and tangeriney hopcitrus. Tastes hopcitric, floral, peppery, with some slight funky and earthy notes as it warms, and a yeast plug on the bottom that almost rivals early Dark Lord. Huge pineapple and tengerine in the nose and flavor, and a rich, very complex smell and taste make this one a world class beer.

Alphalpha is a hazy golden, brew with a fluffy, bubbly, yellowish white head that has good retention and leaves fancy patterns on the glass. The fresh, fruity, candy-like hop aroma is very clear and bold. There’s a sweetness to it that just makes it literally mouth watering just from a whiff. It’s pretty full bodied, smooth and oily. The finish is the slightest bit abrasive from the acidity. It has lots of hop flavor that comes off as flowers and grass. There is a little tang and a nice bit of sweetness that seems to come from the honey. The flavors work together very well and give it a bright, outdoorsy taste. It tastes like a sunny meadow full of wildflowers is what I’m saying. The bitterness lingers on the back of the tongue for a while. Wow, I’m really starting to think that these big bottles of Ithaca are the way to go. This is an invigorating drink.

Pours a dark copper color with golden orange hues and a massive frothy, soapy head. Excellent retention with huge chunks of soapy lacing. Beautiful citrus west coast style hop aroma with lots of grapefruit, orange peel and pine notes. I’m also picking up some guava and other tropical fruit notes along with some sweet honey. Creamy medium body with a an amazing sweet honey/molasses and caramel malt presence that balance out the floral citrus hops. This beer is ridiculously smooth with an almost undetectable ABV. Very smooth and refreshing, one of the most quaffable beers I’ve had to date. I have to stop myself from pounding the whole glass. Extremely well balanced with nice citrus hop bitterness, caramel malt, smooth swet honey and guava/tropical fruit notes. Pine, grapefruit, lemon zest, orange peel flavors with a slightly dry finish. This is an excellent beer that I wish I could buy by the case.

0.75l E!019 - Pours cloudy gold under thick meringue head. Hops on the nose, honey dominates on the palate. This one is wonderful.

UPDATED: APR 22, 2010 Hats off to Ithaca brewing for this one! This is the best I have had from them, most of which has been very good. It has the most ridiculously rocky head I have ever seen - it looked like snow-capped mountains seen from the window of an airplane. The bottle label has a phony cheap/aged look. The aroma is tangy, piney, and resiny - very nice. It tastes like a first rate PA or IPA with pleasantly bitter, piney hops. There are some interesting flavors dancing around the hop & malt core - some grassy, herbal notes and a bit of flowery, heathery honey. Excellent.

Honey sweetness, citrus hops, lasting medium bitter finish. A bit sweeter than I like but one of my favorite east coast DIPAs. Could hold its own in a blind tasting with most of the west coast DIPAs.

750 mL bottle from NIkki’s Liquors, Providence. Pours a hazy amber color with a large frothy tan head. Good head retention. Aroma of big honey notes, clover, floral, earthy notes, toasted caramel malts. The taste is honey, citrus, earth, toasted caramel malts, floral, and citrus notes. Medium bodied. Quite different, and quite tasty.

Poured a murky orange color with a small, white head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of pine, floral hops, citrus, and tropical fruits. Taste of citrus fruits, pine, toffee malts, light toast, honey, grapefruit, some alcohol, and lingering honey in the finish.

750 ml bottle poured a clear gold with a lasting creamy ivory head. Aromas of straw, grassiness, grapefruit, orange zest, light pine and light honey. Palate was light bodied and crisp with a dry finish. Flavors of straw, grapefruit, grassiness, light pine and a hint of honey with a crisp dry bitter lingering grapefruit finish.

In short: A full bodied, highly refreshing, floral and fruity pale IPA.
How: From the bottle (750ml) at Boston Extreme Beer Fest 2009. Multiple samples.
The look: Cloudy light golden body topped by large white head
In long: A smooth bready doughy backbone. Light honey presence. A ton of highly aromatic floral hops. Medium bitterness and the finish is mainly grapefruit with some pine cone. Nice tartness. A lively carbonation. Great mouthfeel. No alcohol presence at all. Talk about a beer that lets itself drink! One of the few unexpected surprise from EBF. Nothing spectacular but what a highly drinkable refreshing IPA it is. I need to get me some of this. I can drink beers like that until I forget about all my problems, which ironically are mainly due to my beer drinking habit.