Kennebec River Magic Hole IPA

Dull bronze. Aroma of tropical & earthy fruits – peach, passion fruit, raspberries, kiwi. Moderate bitterness. Earthy flavour with again the peach and berry esters. Has a slightly prickly carbonation. Finishes kind of light.

On tap at the brewpub:
Candied apricots and oranges disappear into a dry, insipid finish...Wooden hoppiness is jumbled, and far from tasty...Some yeasty dustiness shows its pallid state...Balanced, but burdened by inappropriate, stale hopping...

Draught pint at Belfast Bay Brewing on 7/1/06.
Moderately hazy, very light straw-yellow body with a pinch of peach/tangerine tint. White head is fairly well-retained for a draught sample, leaving some lace, but fading to a ring eventually.
Some straw, farmy and lightly soily hops in the nose mingle with dry, bready grains and are eventually washed out by a fair amount of malt notes (honey) and light yeast on the end. Not overly aromatic, but seems to be quite bitter from the nose. There is a strong undercurrent of leafy, bitter, floral hops.
A fluffy, large bubbled texture opens up, allowing room for highly attenuated malt notes (sourdough, light honey) and dry, nearly astringent hoppiness. It certainly is a dry example, but some fruitiness would be appreciated, along with less water on the finish. Gets a little soggy/watery and really dosent add much more upon warming than the grainy malts and bitter cascade-like hops. Some varied finishing hops and a tighter mouthfeel would do wonders. Still, I don’t have too much faith in the freshness of the kegs at this bar, so I will definitely try it again.

Bottle (12oz). Shared with blankboy. THIS is an IPA? Even by Canadian IPA standards this fails to measure up. Clear amber with a smallish beige head. Aroma of sugary caramel, and stale grain, harsh and nasty. Taste is harsh, fake-caramel sweet, yet somehow sour and dead - there’s bitterness here, and I suppose they were once hops, but hops that have been dessicated for a couple of decades, past any possible identification - I’ve tasted Goldings, I doubt it, but hey, could be Cascade or Saaz, so why not. Weak body, long unpleasant harsh/b itter linger and an aftertaste that won’t go away - if this tasted like rice, I’d swear it was a mid-level Steelback offering. Guh.

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry. Pours a slightly hazy, bubbly amber-gold with an average size diminishing off-white head. Aroma is surprisingly sweet and grainy for an IPA -- also quite fruity with light hops. Doesn’t smell like an IPA at all. Flavour’s watery and sweet with some earthy hops and a somewhat bitter finish -- it’s quite unbalanced and almost harsh tasting. Light bodied. Piss-poor attempt at an IPA, I did not care for this at all.