Magnolia Proving Ground IPA

Brewed by Magnolia Pub and Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
San Francisco, California USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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Cask at Magnolia Pub and Brewery, San Francisco. 6.9% ABV (the draught version was 7.0% ABV!!!).
Hazy amber orange beer with an airy white head. Very hoppy and nutty aroma, quite full and delicious. Extremely bitter and little flowery flavor. Maybe the most hoppy beer I have ever had (and I have tried most of the big ones!!), this is like hop-extract! Notes of nuts and caramel also. A very nice and interesting beer!

On tap at Magnolia. Pours clear copperish amber with white head. Aromas of tropical fruit and citrus with some caramel malts. Flavors of pineapple, citrus, caramel malts, and some hops. Nice citrusy IPA.

Draught at brewpub. Pours a clear amber with a thin white head. Smells of grapefruit, citrus and a hint of caramel. Tastes initially flowery, then a medium bitterness, followed by sweetness, finishing with a dry bitterness. Medium bodied. Oily texture. Not bad, but the sweetness and bitterness aren’t a perfect marriage.

This, personally, is my favorite thing in Magnolia’s line up. Certainly a decent beer.

A - Served a fairly clear copper-amber color with a finger of frothy white head. The head faded fairly quickly leaving behind some nice lacing. S - Aroma is full of citrus hops and to a lesser extent some pine hops. There is also some sweet caramel malts in the background. T - Starts off with a nice kick of citrus hops and some bitterness. There is also a bit of sweet caramel malts in the background to balance. Through the middle, the bitterness grows a bit more and some piney/grassy hops come through. The finish is a mix of citrus hops and bitterness and some sweet caramel/bready malts that linger. M - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Feels smooth with a nice dryness from the hops and bitterness. D - Very drinkable. Nice citrus hops profile. Could have used a bit more complexity, but still a very solid IPA.

Draft... Clear dark gold, a hue or orange, light white head... smells outstanding, what a west coast ipa is, lots of fresh dank, with a bit of pineapple... The taste is a bit of a letdown, still good just not as great as the nose, light dank, pine resin a touch of alcohol on the finish, loses malt balance but still very good

On tap at the brewpub. Deep golden colour. Potent passion fruit and grapefruity hop flavours. A refreshing IPA.

On tap at Giordano Bros. in North Beach. Clear amber color with no head. Aroma is very pleasant and fruity. Lots of grapefruit and pine. Flavor is bitter with a bit of lemon. Astringent mouthfeel. A good quality IPA.

Cask. An amber beer with a thin beige head. The aroma has notes of malt, spicy hops, and grapefruit. The flavor is sweet with strong notes of grass and grapefruits, as well as medium notes of malt and hops, leading to a dry and very bitter finish, where the grapefruit note lingers.

On tap at the brewpub. Pours with a small white head and a clear orange body. Aroma of fennel, citrus, coriander. Flavors are citrusy, coriander, tropical fruit (columbus). Lasting fruitiness with a dry finish and assertive carbonation. Nice.

A: The pour is a light copper sort of color with a nice layer of off-white foam forming on top. S: A moderate citrus aroma from the hops along with some floral notes coming through. There is a sharp note of alcohol at times, which is never really appealing. A bit of toasted malt hits the nose which is a bit more reminiscent of an English style IPA. T: Mostly oranges in terms of the citrus but there’s a bit of grapefruit peel in there as well. More floral hops are present, too, as are some pine notes. It seems this is just a bit watery, too. M: The body is just about at medium with a low to moderate level of carbonation. D: Not overly hoppy or bitter, which I can deal with, but they advertise this beer as having 100 IBUs, which is just so far from the case. A mediocre IPA.