Meantime India Pale Ale

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

I was actually quite impressed with this and beings I am not usually a fan of British style IPAs, this has a great floral fragrant hop aroma, flavor is quite bitter with a hop level that is demanding on the palate, could use more of a malt characer, lightly biscuity, with some sweet honey notes but tends to be overly bittersweet at times.

The aroma has plenty of floral hops, yeast, and sweet malt. The appearance is hazy with a deep gold/orange. The flavor is bitter first, malt second, and finally a touch of citrus. The palate is typical for an IPA but good. This is a good example of the style.

(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.

(750 ml corked and caged bottle: Obtained in trade with iwantalambic, thanks Justin!) Big bottle, and an even bigger price tag, so I’m hoping the beer lives up to the hype. The sweet and very fruity nose shows honeydew melon in particular, with some light caramel in the background. The hops aroma is on the grassy side and offers a nice counterpoint to the sweet, fruity aromas. This doesn’t have the most aromatic of noses, but it does smell very nice and very enticing. But wow, the very tasty flavor is even more enjoyable, with elements that really have caught me by surprise. The flavor is very sweet and quite fruity, with a strong malt base that tastes like candy caramel. Honestly, my first impression was "dessert beer". The mild, grassy hoppiness stays in the background, but contributes a perfect amount of tart citrus and bitterness to break up the sweetness without taking away its focus. Body is medium-full and carbonation is light, so the mouthfeel is rich and luscious. Cloudy, translucent, golden amber colored body is capped by half an inch of rocky, white head. The head fades to a ring over time and leaves a fair amount of patchy lacing on the glass. Is it worth $10? Probably not, but I’ve really enjoyed this delicious beer, so if it were available in my part of the country, I wouldn’t mind splurging on this tasty, exotic treat every now and again.

The after it’s de-corking for the 750ml brown bottle resides in the glass a beclouded amber with a prestigious creamy light tan head, the lace forms a tight skirt around the glass. Nose is rich in hops, sweet malt, and a citrus-like crispness that makes the mouth water, start is sweet with a pleasing grain profile, the top is middling in its feel to the palate. Finish is nicely hopped, mildly acidic and the aftertaste desert bone dry, a nice IPA, that hits the "B" spot after a long day of toil and trouble, worth a sample.

750ml bottle from Sainsburys. Hazy, pale amber in colour, with a big, frothy off-white head. Aroma of sweet mlats, some marmalade and a touch of pine resin. Flavour was sweet, with pkenty of caramel, orange fruit, a whiff of green herbs (coriander?) and a dryish finish. Good.

Pours hazy orange with a thin head. Aroma is fruit hoppy with a grassy note and so is the flavor. Dry bitter mouthfeel, very English in style and compared to the American IPAs I usually drink it is very easy and quite harmless. Still not bad.

But friends, this beer changed my life. Appearance: Pours out a blurred coppery orange with a very fluffy, very inviting white head. Smell: Exhilarating aroma of fresh bread, butter, and toffee tied to the spicy, herbal scent of English hops. Taste: Yum! This brew was a perfect blend of caramel sweetness, rich grains, and a citrus hop flavor reminiscent of orange marmalade. Nice spicy finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Carbonation is soft and fine. Drinkability: Very much so. I can’t help but lavish this beer with uplifting compliments, positive energy, good-cheer thoughts and sugarplums.