Laurelwood Workhorse IPA

Brewed by Laurelwood Public House & Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Portland, Oregon USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

On tap at Laurelwood on 52nd and Sandy (not the pizza place). Light golden-orange color with big off-white head that laces well. Intense fruity, almost tropical aroma. Grapefruit, pineapple, mandarin, tangerine and biscuits & honey. Some red apple. Soft creamy bubbles and low carbonation make this medium bodied brew smooth and very drinkable. Sweet lightly toasted biscuity malt is bursting with juicy hop flavors. Big pink grapefruit impression, orange, tangerine and piney resin on a lingering bitter finish without being offensively bitter. Hugely drinkable. Probably the best IPA I found in Portland.

In short: Typical golden-blonde citrusy IPA . Not super exciting but I can’t complain
How: Bottle 22oz. Consumed when probably 2 months of age. Bottle sent to me by after4ever, thanks a lot Tom
The look: Sparse yeast particles in an otherwise clear golden body topped by a small white head
In long: Typical american IPA citrusy nose of medium intensity. Taste has a neutral but substantial malt backbone that tastes and feels like bread dough. Then comes the typical fruity hops (mangos, peaches, oranges, etc) with a bit more bitter grapefruits than expected. Just enough alpha to make for a sharp final without being abrasive. Overall a pretty standard citrusy IPA. So Laurelwood brews a super nice beer and name it after workhorses and in the meantime we’re still waiting for that "Thank You" note workhorses for inventing tractors. Ungrateful animals.

A steady pour into my New Belgium globe glass produces a one-finger thick, pale tan colored head. The beer is a red-copper / pale amber color that shows a clear, bright orange-copper hue when held up to the light. The aroma smells a bit metallic (sort of like wet tin) from a distance, this is still evident close up, but here it mixes in with a mix of sweet tea like crystal malt, toasted biscuit, lots of sticky caramel and toasted spicy grain character (that is typical of crystal malt). The dominant malt is backed by a soft hop character that contributes notes of pine and grapefruit. This is definitely on the soft side for an IPA.

The beer is bitter as it first hits my tongue, this mixes in with a pine like character and in the finish a metallic character that seems to be contributed from both the hop character and the ample crystal malt character. There is also some grapefruit zest notes and other swet citrus zest flavors here, though they aren’t nearly big enough for this beer to scratch my IPA craving. The finish has a biting, fairly substantial bitterness to it that lingers for some time on the palate and even has a touch of astringency to it. The malt character is not quite as noticeable as the hop character, but it certainly contributes substantially to this beer; notes of metallic crystal malt, toasted / brown-sugar biscuit character, spicy whole grain character and definite sweet tea character.

Definitely not my preferred type of IPA; there is a bit too much focus on crystal malt here, some of this is likely accentuated from some oxidation and age, but this still isn’t nearly hoppy enough for my tastes. Still this is not bad and is enjoyable enough to finish off a 22oz of this.

(22oz bottle) Pours a hazy glowing burnt orange body with a dense medium cream head. Aroma of bread, orange, passion fruit, fresh pineapple, caramel, toffee, and light butterscotch. Flavor of caramel malt, orange, bread, banana, toffee, grass, and subtle toasted coconut as it warms. Finishes somewhat dry and moderately bitter.

22 oz bottle. Aroma is powerful yet disturbing. Very hazy pour with visibly obvious chucks of something in the base. Tastes of citrus and more citrus. Drinkable but only occasionally.

An amber IPA with a very thin off white head. In aroma, a piney resinous and floral hops with mentol notes, meaty c-hops delight meet funky hops. In mouth, a smooth caramel malt with well balanced resinous hops, pink grapefruit pulp, quite nice, warming alcohol, the Northwest in a glass! On tap at PDX Concourse E location, July 31 2011.

Hazy orange with a big, stiff creamy head. A touch of vinegar and a whole heap of piney hops and a bit of booziness on the nose. Strong, resinous pine dominates but a little caramel maltiness makes something of a balance. Quite thick and creamy. A sound IPA, good drinking and fresh but not eminently sessionable. I like but it’s just one of many in this part of the world.

Bottled 0,65l (bottle bought in Portland)
Slightly hazy orange color, small white head. Very piney, flowery, maybe a bit vegetably hoppy aroma. Medium-bodied. Very resiny and piney, almost woody hoppyness with some citrus in the flavor. Classic double IPA, drinkability is good although flavor is not extraoridinary.

At SAVOR. Poured a hazy golden./orange color with a large white head. Aroma was heavy citrus fruits, grapefruit, floral and earthy notes. Flavor was heavy citrus notes, hoppy all to heck, and incredibly good. Huge thumbs up on this one.