LaConner India Pale Ale (Bottleworks)

12 oz. bottle has " DH " hand written on the green cap. Amber colored with a huge head that took several minutes to settle. Massive smell of grapefruit and pine tree resins. Has a malt sweetness which mingles nicely with the huge hop flavor. Chewing on the hops will kill your taste buds. My guess is cellaring this beer for twenty years won’t diminish the hop flavor. Sept 4/2004

Bottle thanks to kyzr poured threw a strainer a hazy yellow color with a huge foamy white head. The aroma was floral citrus hops and a small amount of caramel. Flavor had a smooth bitterness along with a nice body of caramel and citrus. The finish was slightly dry and bitter. There was some signs of age, but not much as expected.

I am so glad this brewery is 10 miles away! Beer pours a hazy yellow orange. Aroma is like pine and grapefruit. Flavor is intense like ginger but with the flavor of hops. The perfect amount of bitterness. Ends dry just the way I like it.

Bottle. It should be noted that Ithis review is from summer 2004. I drove from Seattle to La Conner to visit my girlfriends mother (AKA pick up a case of La Conner IPA from the brewery). This was a regular journey since my favorite local IPA was difficult to come by at the time. Upon reaching the brew pub I was informed by the bartender that he did not believe they had any more IPA’s on hand- but he’d check with the brewer/owner. Upon returning he said all he could offer was a dry hopped version and he wasn’r sure if I’d want it. I did. As we began the trip back to Seatown I popped my first dry hopped La Conner IPA (to dismay of my girlfriend- how caould I wait, after all this WAS the purpose). I had no glass, nor did I need one. My first slug was a surprise; an incredible hop satisfation like none I’d ever expierience- nor since. The exceptional "herb" tingle- or even burn. Never bitter but intense. The herby aroma and sensation lasted long after the first taste. AMAZING. INTENSE HOPS. Beautiful, the the bar has been set. Another slug andd I find, to my surprise, a giant hop nugget lodged in the mouth of the bottle. Now that’s dry hopping! I pull the hop out and suck on it, chew on it, envelope it’s wonders. WOW! Incredible. I finish my first and have to open another,could they have mistakenly left a hop in MY bottle? Nope. This was no mistake, and boy was I grateful. Due to the bottling expese of leaving hops in, and the problems incountered with the hops floating up and tripping the sensors during bottling, this has been discontinued, or made very scarce. However, if you can ever get your handes on one- do it. Nothing matches up. The hops are an IPA seduction. This one is for real.

2004 Vintage

3/10/2007: LaConner Bottleworks India Pale Ale pours a hazy yellow-orange hop leaf floaties. No,k wait... That’s an entire hop cone in there! The hops in the aroma are definitely still there in the flavor, albeit slightly diminished. Even so, the earthy and malty flavor and bitterness are still quite aggressive. This beer is medium to medium-full in body with a mild level of carbonation. Overall I am quite impressed with how well this beer has held up over the past three years or so. I really like the whole hop cone in the bottle; it’s a nice touch and takes dry-hopping to the extreme. I bet this beer was awesome when it was fresh to about 1 year or so old...

12 oz bottle generously shared by ross. Thank you very much Ross for the privilege of tasting this very rare and very good beer before it all disappears forever. I really appreciate it!