Ithaca Excelsior! IPAbbey

Formerly brewed at Ithaca Beer Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Ithaca, New York USA

Serve in Shaker, Snifter

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Bottle. Pours a hazy light brown without much of a head, just a few bubbles looking very much like they’d be at home atop a soda instead of a beer. This is interesting. It’s got a good two years on it, but still retains a little bit of citrus hop aroma, kept upright by a big malty backbone. Flavors are a bit like what one would expect from an older IPA or DIPA, much of the hops have fallen out, leaving the beer a little bit empty in the middle. Lots of old malt and caramel. Finishes sweet and almost a touch oxidized. Hopefully Ithaca will do this one again, because I’d have loved to have had this when it was in it’s prime, as I’d guess my rating would be at least a half point higher, as you can tell that this used to be quite good, but has succumbed to the ravages of time a bit.

In short: Double IPA, american style. Very sweet. Good but not very exciting.
How: Mtl-crew beer-and-spagatt tasting. Bottle, fresh from beerbuzzmontreal
The look: Cloudy dark orange with some big off-white bubbles acting as a head
In long: Smell of fresh citrusy hops, the american kind. The beer is sweet, very sweet, sugary even, too much so for my taste. The malts are as caramelized as they are honeyed. Alcohol is apparent. Hops manage to surface late in the game for a much welcomed sweet and fruity bitter finish. In a blind tasting I would have never guessed this is a Belgian beer. Just felt like a very sweet American IPA to me. Belgian by name only. As Belgian as Pierre Janssens, a fifth generation Texan who likes go bowling with a firearm.

2007 PP SAF Bottle (#1708)brought by Goldtwins, thanks: Deep hazy amber with a frothy head and okay lace. The aroma has notes of apricot, pear, floral and grassy bitters, honey and biscuity malt. The taste is fruity and sugary with a moderate bitterness in the background. Spicy and phenolic on the finish. The mouth feel is sharp, biting and woody dry. Not too bad but seems to miss the complexity I hoped for.

750, capped and foiled. April 2007. Thanks, RuzyGreenberg! Murky dark amber with a loose, thin tan film. Huge lemon and grapefruit nose, maybe a little bit of yeasty apple there underneath that. Absolutely unbelievable preservation of the hop character of this beer after 2 years or so in the bottle. Creamy medium body with low carb. Rich fruity flavors with a little light balsa wood under that and a fairly mild finish. A beautiful, understated DIPA.

This abbey triple pours a slightly cloudy orange gold color from a 750ml bottle. Medium sized white foamy head. Aroma is fruity and sweet, some honey and some hops. A medium bodied triple. The malts are fruity and sweet. The hops are citrusy and a touch grapefruity. Nice balance, Think they did a nice job trying to meld to diverging beer styles here, its more of a IPA than a Abbey Triple, but there is a nice yeastiness and sweetness to this beer. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

Bottle (750ml) shared with HogTownHarry, GregClow, tupalev & jerc -- courtesy of HogTownHarry. Bottle 588. Pours a hazy amber with an average size somewhat-lasting bubbly white head. Nice aroma of hops and caramel malt, slightly sweet, along with some fruit and spices. Very tasty spicy hoppy flavour with a good amount of malt, some alcohol and yeast and a long bitter finish. Medium bodied. I am very surprised that this is by Ithaca -- wow! -- this is a fantastic beer!

Bottle #223. Pours a hazy amber with a medium sized beige head. Aroam is citrusy american hops- some lemon peel, and orange zest, catty, doughy and dirty yeast. Phenolic flavor with some solvent quality, modest caramel malt sweetness, and a lemony citrus and hoppy finish. Pretty solid try at this new style, but Id much rather go for the CL extra gold or a houblon chouffe.

Bottle shared at John’s tasting. I don’t know what this beer tasted like fresh, but it has aged amazingly well for a "hoppy tripel" or "double IPA" or whatever style it is. Pours amber brown with white head. Nose of citrus, toffee, caramel malt, honey and light brown sugar. Taste is toffee, caramel malt, honey and spicy hops. Taste starts with the honey and morphs into the other flavors. Still a decent hop presence for a three plus year old brew. Reminds me of a lightish barley wine.

[725-20071001] 750mL (w/ jerc, Radek Kliber). Grassy orange citrus peel hops aroma. Cloudy, brown red body with a quick bubbly light tan head. Bittersweet citrus hops. Medium body has bitter finish. Alcohol seems well-blended.

Bottle: Dark caramel, thick, sediment abound, moderate frothy off-white head, nice lacing.   Hoppy nose, fairly floral, but has an odd aged cheese tinge.   Fairly hop centered on flavor, there exists a light Belgian espect.   Fairly floral on the tongue, semi-sweet, lingering hop bitterness.   Has quite a bit of hop flavor but this one is more like a Pale Ale in its bitterness.   Moderate to full bodied, average mouthfeel.   Semi-sweet finish, perhaps the only area that seems somewhat Belgian.   Not much of a Tripel, but more like a decent heavy Pale Ale with a Belgian tinge.   Thanks Dan for the bottle!