Mikkeller Stateside India Pale Ale / IPA

Bottle courtesy of Boutip
Damn, just cracking off the cap made me drool. Dumped out beer into Budweiser chalice. Slight hazy orangy amber something, acceptable white cap with tons of lacing. Jesus, this beer is going fast! Stiff and eye opening aroma that demands my attention. Huge citrus - candy peach, ruby red grapefruit, lychee - all very sweet but no hint of that being a distracting thing. Good chunk of caramel malts and toasted multigrain bread, weak pine. Maybe even melon. Man, I love IPA’s! Damn fine amount of flavors but something holds this back from rising to the top of the stack. The thick malts hit the ’buds first followed very quickly by grapefruit, pine, more caramel, peachishy something (peachishy is a word, look it up), floral hops (is that a taste??). Each sip is a blast of flavor. On the thick side, leaves a minor coating in my mouth but a permanent piney bitter lingering. Perfectly carbonated, great swish and a shit load of hops. The malts were really good in this one keeping it fairly balanced. Aspects of this remind me of a couple of barley wines from the states. Finishes with the bitterness turning into grapefruit rind. Bottoms up! Homo.

330ml bottle from Beers of Europe. A very clean brew (cold filtered?). This is assertively hopped but not aggressive. The malt is clean, sweet and pleasant, providing a decent backbone to the generous American hops. As this is not too extreme in malt or hops (and especially both) I am finding this more pleasant and drinkable than most IPAs - though it is slow progress. My personal inclination is for less hops and more drinkability. It’s a clean, slightly boring IPA with a slight burn. Acceptable.

500 mL bottle from Beer Run in Charlottesville, VA. Pours a hazy copper color with a large frothy head. Good head retention and lacing. Big aroma of syrupy citrus hop notes. Floral and herbal hops notes and toffee are in the background. Taste is much more dry with toffee and bitter, resiny hops with a bit of a candied citrus finish. Medium-full bodied. Quite nice,.

500ml bottle from grape & gourmet. pours a beautiful, slightly cloudy, dark copper with a half inch, white head and great lacing. aroma is excellent with slightly sweet, floral hops up front with notes of lemon zest, orange peel, caramel malts, apricot, and red grape. flavor is wonderful with big, bitter hops, grapefruit, lemon, and pine notes up front backed by dry, roasted, caramel malts and grassy earth. palate is smooth, medium bodied, and slightly resinous with a dry, bitter, citrus hop finish. overall, an very good IPA.

Pour is a hazy golden amber (12 SRM), Rocky head dies quickly leaving prodigious lacing. Smells of muskmelon, maple, grapefruit, pine, and ever so slightly wet cardboard. Taste lightly sweet, finishing with lots bitters.

Bottle.Golden orange appearance.Hoppy,flowery and full bodied.Slightly smoked and very, very impressive.

Bottle. Rich apricot colored pour, medium carbonation and a nice orange and hoppy aroma. Flavor was sweet marmalade citrus, then some mild malt and good bitter hops. Nice IPA, but not $9-10 a bottle good.

A little hazy orange colored beer, with a lightbeige head. The aroma of several hops, with fruits like citrus and grapes. There is some caramel in the back. The taste is hop bitter, fruity like citrus with some orange. It’s dry and grassy. The aftertaste is very bitter with notes of sweet.