New Glarus Hop Hearty Ale

,Thick somewhat muddled pine and grain hops with caramel pudding aroma, taste is citrus hop tang,which changes to caramel and field hop ,finishes with a drying hop bitterness. Quality on this seems to vary, but overall a decent IPA

(Bottle 35,5 cl) Courtesy of JCapriotti. Clear, amber golden with a yellowish head. Fresh, citrusy nose. Medium body with light caramel notes, fresh citrus notes and an underlying sweetness. The finish is dry but not overly bitter. 290607

Bottle @ Papsoe´s. A redish orange with a fizzy off-white head. Aroma has pine, alcohol and a light hoppyness balanced towards peach and grapefruit. Flavour is mild, a good background of caramel and perhaps liqourice. Then it turns dry and adds in a nice dose of fruity hops.

Bottle. Small fizzy off-white head that mostly diminished. Fair display of lacework. Clear flat body with an amber color. Aroma of elderflower, pine, grapefruit, citrus and other notes of floral hops. Notes of caramel, grain and light liquorish could also be felt. Medium bodied with a dry texture and an average carbonation. Balanced bitter and sweet flavor. Light dry and bitter finish.

Pours a clear, ever so slightly hazy orange amber with a thick fluffy beige head. Nice lacing. Aroma of grass, floral and grapefruity hops with a nice presence of Cascade hops. Taste is grassy and a bit floral with hints of grapefruit and pine. Very nice and enjoyable.

Great Pale Ale. More grassy and caramelly than most pale ales. Aroma is quite hoppy, but not overwhelming. Very smooth pale ale.

i keep trying to compare this in my head to other hoppy IPA’s and APA’s but i can’t find a mold into which to place it. it’s not as strong in the grassy/citrusy/grapefruit direction as most, but it’s still respectable. it finishes too light. i keep going back and forth on this beer. i’m gonna have to defer for now and leave my initial impression up... rerate: this is fucking weird. pours looking like a dark brown opaque barleywine with no head. smells like a barleywine, tastes like a watered-down english barleywine. i didn’t even look at my original rating till just this sentence, but i can see why i had such a hard time placing it in a category. it absolutely smells exactly like the bells 3rd coast old ale, which i’ve had maybe 6 6-packs of. a little less strong though. flavor is similar but way more watered down. i get very faint flavoring hops in the finish, but that’s about it. i have a feeling this must be extremely old because there’s basically no hop character and i don’t know how anybody’d call it an IPA. at least in america. i see it’s got east kent golding hops, which i believe are pretty european. i can maybe buy an english IPA classification. but either way, it’s watery as balls and doesn’t have much going for it except a nicely balanced front end.

My Bottom Line:
Earthy hops are cohesively integrated to the lascivious caramel maltiness of this hearty broth of an IPA. This is not your typically bold American hop blast though, which can definitely be inferred from the beer’s name, but it remains a testament to the brewer’s prowess.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-Creamy foam sticks to the misty reddish orange.
-The soft carbonation perfectly showcases the generous maltiness.
-A light orangey fruitiness is found underneath.
-The smooth leafy hop bitterness hits the spot, yet might not be enough to satisfy those looking for a killer finish.
-Herbal hints in the nose sometimes recall freshly-picked basil leaves, or even mint.

Bottle; thx Mike!