Kennebec River Magic Hole IPA

Brewed by Kennebec River Brewing
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
The Forks, Maine USA

Thanks to Susep for the bottle! This actually really grew on me. Hazy caramel color. Off white colored head that slowly settles to a fine film. Aroma is dominated by grains with hints of hops. Lots of caramel up front with a peppery hoppy finish.

12oz bottle. Pretty standard IPA but a very drinkable one. Hop taste was not as pronounced as I would like.

Bottle received in a trade from ben4321. Pours medium amber with a nice lasting off-white head. Aroma is somewhat faint for an IPA, with caramel, earth, spice, and muted floral hops. Flavor is caramel malt, earth, apples, oranges, citrus hops, and even a little alcohol, which I normally don’t pick up much of in single IPAs. Hop character is more like an English IPA, where it’s more about bitterness than aroma and flavor. Maybe they should add the hops later in the boil. Still, the finish is surprisingly hoppy and fairly long. Body is medium. This was definitely a different beer than I’m used to - not bad, but just doesn’t really stand up well next to a lot of more in-your-face American IPAs.

Great head with a frothy and rocky recession. Orange-amber color, cloudy. Excellent lumpy lace. Earthy and less hoppy than most IPA’s on the initial smell. Subsequent smells are far more bitterly floral by nature. Very hoppy right from the first sip which lasts through the long aftertaste. True to the classic American style IPA. Good body with a slightly elevated level of carbonation.

Brother in law gave me this from his beer of the month club haul. Poured a slightly hazy amber orange color with bubbly offwhite head. Aroma is of sugared mandarin oranges, but overall faint. Flavor is sweet orange citrus base with slight bitterness. Overall an ejoyable drink but nothing mindblowing here.

bottle. Pours a deep copper color, decent inch or so of off white head that sticks around pretty well and leaves plenty of lace on the glass. Aroma is not promising... loads of sticky caramel sweetness. Faint floral bitterness, but nose is dominated by sweet malt notes. Flavor starts with some light floral bitterness. Hop profile shows that light floral notes, some faint spicy notes, and that’s about it. Sweetness tones down from the nose- more balance shows in the flavor, but all the aspects are weak and lack character. Palate is thin and watery, mildly carbonated, with nothing much on the finish. Overall, a pretty disappointing IPA. Maybe better on tap? I’d hope so.

June 2009 Beer of the Month Club , 7/7/09

Aroma: Floral hops, caramel, light spice
Appearance: Cloudy copper color, small off-white head
Flavor: Malty up front, pine hop bitterness comes through in the middle and finish
Palate: Medium body, long finish, decent mouthfeel
Overall Impression: A bit of an odd bitterness to this one, it’s not particularly hoppy for an IPA, but what hops are there didn’t come off exactly how I’d like them to. A decent beer, but nothing exceptional.

Pours coper with an off white head. Smells of resin, spicy, caramel. Tastes resiny and bitter with a spicy finish.