Maritime Pacific Imperial Pale Ale

Draught pint at Redbones on 11/7/06
Very pale-gold colored beer is mostly clear, with just a slight chill haze. Some hay and platinum tints add to the striking lucidity, while a creamy, well-retained white head, bountifully tops the liquid, leaving a fair amount of thick lacing as it recedes.
Fruity, heavily dry-hopped nose is wonderfully aromatic and lacks any obnoxious bitterness or malt interference. This keg was specially dry-hopped for Redbones, so the score might be a little higher than in the bottle? Not overly complex, but I must say, I love cascade hops. Medium sweet, juicy orange and red grapefruit notes provide both vigor and comfort on the nose, backed by light pale malt sugariness. Growing more dry, and with a more reserved fruitiness, as it progresses, the hops remain, nevertheless, very juicy and "green". Clean, no alcohol showing through. Nothing that hasnt been done before, or done with more complexity, for sure, but it still shows promise and even a slight hint of tropical fruitiness (mango, mostly). At the very least, it is greatly focused on aromatics and not bitterness.
A medium-full body is quickly noticeable, though it’s not full of overly sweet/sugary malt notes. Dextrinous and quite dense, it’s well-matched by the frothy carbonation that processes the malt, adding juicy bits of citrus hop notes in its place. Green, flavorful and with a wholesome drying nature (no alcohol or heavy acidity used to dry), it continues to add orange and grapefruit notes, with very light mangoes, yellow cherries and some nectarines. After the hops begin to assert themselves, aided by the carbonation, the malt never seems too heavy, though it certainly is present all the way through, making quite a meal out of the beer. Well-done stuff, if slightly uninspiring in hop complexity. No alcohol or flaws notable.

Dry hopped on tap from Jolly Rodger. Dark golden with good head. Solid IIPA...big soapy, citrus hop aroma and taste backed by plenty of malt sweetness. Tasty.

Aroma of citrus hop and malt. Golden amber color with a bit of head. Flavor starts with a sweet mixed hop impression. Mostly citrus, but something else, not pine. Very interesting. Nicely bitter. Some malt tries for balance, but it gets lost.

Bottle. Amber beer with a nice off-white head. Big sweet orange aroma with some backing caramel. Grapefruit and orange hop flavor with a bit of resin and some underlying vanilla. Lots of hop flavor with decent hop bitterness. Grapefruit bitterness lingers. The wheat helps make it a bit too drinkable.

I had this in cask conditioned form at the Jolly Roger in Seattle. IT was a fantastic experience as cask conditioned ales can be.

Bottle from Secret Santa. Orange body, good sized fluffy white head. Sweet aroma of orange and light resin, touch muted. Pleasant mild hops in the flavour, very muted resin and orange. Average palate is a touch under carbonated. Very pleasant but pretty muted all around and a whole lot less of a hop wallop than I expected from a west coast "IPA". Perhaps it is more present in a fresher bottle? Nice to try regardless.

Draught at pub. Pour is a clear gold color with a creamy head and lacing. Earth and citrus in the nose. The flavor has citrus, earth, and some cut grass with a good malt background and a lingering bitterness. Good beer.

355ml bottle obtained in a trade with <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/ViewUser.asp?UserID=1495 target=blank>jah noth, thanks Daniel. Golden-orange in colour, small white head, floating particles, light lacing. The aroma is of powerful hops (pine and citrus), caramel malts sweetness, juicy. The flavour is big and chewy, lots of citrus hops, pine, caramel malt balance. Bitter mouthfeel, medium/large body, high carbonation. Finishes with a long very hoppy bitterness. Big and chewy, great beer all-around, no noticable alcohol.