Meantime India Pale Ale

Brewed by Meantime
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
London, England

Call me crazy, but this is as near to perfect as beer can get. Great aroma, mouthfeel, flavor, & balance. The hop aroma shifts between floral, resinous, grassy, and fruity. Deeply bitter with a treacle malt balance. Roasted malt shares prominence with the hops and gives way to an almost Belgian something extra. If I have to say anything negative about this beer, it’s that it may just leave a little too much sweetness on the lips and the head dissipates just a little too quickly. Just as I was getting bored with American hop monsters, this beer saves my life.

Bottle (750ml). Shared with blankboy, GregClow, jerc, mds and tupalev, a refugee bottle from the 2006 Michigan Brewers’ Fest. Hazy orange pour with a smallish off-white head. Malty and yeasty aroma, quite dry and lightly spicy, even a lactic note in there, and a nice wave of herbal mildly funky UK-style dry hops, noticeable alcohol on warming. Caramel malt taste, herbal, almost pungent hops, quite a bit of alcohol for 7.5% in the fairly long bitter finish, good malt balancing. Thick body, astringent chewy mouthfeel, I liked its complexity - this is an excellent malty UK take on the IPA style.

750ml bottle, corked & caged. 7.5% abv. Hazy orange. Frothy head of soapsud-like consistency. Aroma is some lackluster toffee malt and a good dose of herbal hops. Heavy herbal hop flavor..plenty of Fuggles & Goldings used here for sure. Some orange peel and a bit of spice in the mix as well. Sticky mouthfeel, fairly dry finish. It was alright for an English IPA, just not worth the nearly $10 price tag in my opinion.

Cloudy copper orange pour with good carbonation. Maltier than American versions. Lots of noble hops on the nose and medium bitterness results in a well balanced IPA.

Cask at White Horse, London. Amber. Nice malt fruitness and hop bitterness. A lot of taste and well-balanced.

(Draught, White Horse, Parson’s Green, London, 23 July) Colour is amber, with little head. Nose is fruity and hoppy with caramel notes, a bit closed. Taste is fruity with caramel and citrus, starts with a bite of alcohol sweetness, turns drier with a seriously hoppy and bitter finish, lots of dusty hops here. Very nice and very hoppy. Seriously good English IPA.

Warm copper pour, abundant white head that slowly settles in a persistent ring. Mmm....I smell hops! Fresh turf, flower garden after a rain; all the nice things about traditional English hopping shown off in a big way. Flavor alternates between a big, luscious hop flavor and a sweet, biscuity maltiness. Something that makes me think of a milkshake. A lingering marmalade finish. Full soft palate. This is a clean, balance IPA, bursting with flavor. I’ve been craving a beer that showed off it’s hops without apologizing, and this did the trick beautifully. In spite of IPA’s wanderlust inception, I suspect this beer is best tasted here where it is brewed, and does suffers in long-distance travel.

Bottle. Amber/gold with an off-white head. Aromas are lemon and tea with dry biscuit and lots of peppery, yet not so bitter, hops. Quite earthy. Flavours are dry biscuit and tea with vanilla and cream notes. Also has apple and pear fruitiness with citrus coming through towards the finish. Very hoppy but not especially bitter or aggressive, which is welcome to be honest. Hops are slightly sweet and earthy with lots of pepper. Prickly on the finish with a fairly long aftertaste. Very nice.