Meantime India Pale Ale

Bottle. Murky, reddish copper color with an ivory head. Sweet, fruity and malty aroma with some caramel and hoppy notes. Big caramel and malt flavors with a bit of bitterness. Does not drink at all like the west coast IPA’s I’m used to here in California but it’s still a really nice beer. Really tastes like a very light Barley Wine.

Hazy orange color with a small beige head. The aroma is pretty sweet, with citrus hops and fruit, and sugary malt. Flavor of citrus, hops and sugary malt.

Pours out a nice deep amber color with a nice beige head. Aroma is very hoppy and floral. Flavor hits you with a nice citrus punch and a hoppy finish. This a a very nice brew.

I’m not a fan of Hook’s brewing style. He likes clean beers, while I like beers with a bit of rough character. He likes to imitate and follow, while I like brewers who produce interesting beers. He produces a lot of lagers, while I like ale. And when he does venture into ales, it’s to copy the clean style of American brewers rather than the fruity, yeasty style of the British. It’s typical of Hook that when he makes an "authentic" British IPA, having "carefully researched the history of the style" and wanting to make it as "true to the London origin as possible" that he simply copies the American IPA, and then advises people to "pay attention to the serving procedure" by serving at "refridgerator temperature" and to pour carefully "so retaining any sediment in the bottle". God forbid that you should actually want to taste any fucking character in this beer! Sure enough it’s a clean tasting American IPA. Perhaps softer than most IPAs - hovering around in the area between an APA and an IPA - but certainly All American. There is mention of "pound upon pound of Fuggles & Goldings", though the hops taste more American cascade than earthy British. The malt is juicy, well behaved and quite sticky sweet like American malt. I like it. And I like the hops. I may moan and bitch about Meantime, and the brewing attitude, but I have to hold my hanbds up and admit that this is a nice beer. Yep, it is clearly aimed at the American market. Yep, it ignores (as do all of Hook’s beers) the British beer culture in which he is based. Yep it is clean and predictable. Yep, he has simply copied other people. But, it’s a damn tasty beer. It’s fresh, juicy, sweet, well balanced - not aggressive as some IPAs can be, and well made. I’m enjoying this. It’s a spanking good ale. It might even make my beer of the month.

bottle. hazy orange pour with nice creamy off white head. big pear aroma, hops, and big malts as well. Pear follows in mouth giving it a "fuzzy" mouth. malts are balanced well. not much bitterness to speak of. some yeasty characteristics. nice lacing. Unique.

i like this one. it is of hazy amber color with much hops to it. has a fruit taste to it as well. i really enjoyed it.

Like others had no pressure when pulling the cork... Seems like a pretty big mess up for a brewery to not do a propery secondary carbonation. Aroma is very fruity with light hops are caramel. Foggy amber with yellow highlights and not much of a staying head. Taste is very sugary for an IPA, almost tastes like light barleywine, heavy caramel and fruit, good but not a traditional IPA. Body has some carbonation but is lower then is should be for sure.

Crisp orange-citrus-pine floral, earthy, spicey hop forward aroma with some honeylike malty sweetness. Clear copper coloured body is topped by a decent and lasting, off white head thats ticks to the sides of the glass. Orange-citrus-floral-pine hop flavours and moderate bitterness couple with underlying supporting biscuit and caramel malt base. Medium body with lively, lightly prickly carbonation that awakens the tastebuds. Sampled on tap at the brewpub in Glasgow (May-06).
Earlier Rating: 10/10/2005 Total Score: 2.7
Floral, earthy hop aroma. Clear pale copper coloured body with low, white, fully diminishing head. Floral and earthy hops are strong in the flavour also with some dough-like yeastiness. Medium light body with moderate carbonation. Bottle sampled at RBESG 2005.