North Peak Vicious American Wheat IPA

Brewed by North Peak Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Traverse City, Michigan USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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Sample at Fat Heads on 3/26/11. Pours clear amber with a thin off-white head. Aroma of citrusy and floral hops with dank malt. Malty flavor with citrusy and floral hops with a grassy finish.

poured from recycled Red Stripe bottle - interesting....berry interesting. Wheat element mitigates hoppiness--not like any IPA I have encountered. Bit thin. Could be back for more.

Sample at Fat Head’s. The beer pours a hazy golden-orange color with a medium thin off-white head that recedes steadily. Spotty lacing on the glass. Citrusy hops and malt in the nose. Medium body with flavors of hops, citrus and wheaty malt. The finish is fruity with a short hoppy aftertaste. Decent IPA overall.

Vicious is an American Wheat IPA. The cloudy pour lets you know it’s unfiltered, as well. Lots of citrus in the nose with a bit of banana. There’s an interesting sensation I’m trying to figure out how to describe. It’s got the aftertaste of a huge IPA, but that giant hop bite wasn’t in the initial taste. Still a good amount of hops in the very bitter finish. Quite a bit of orange and banana up front. Very smooth, crisp, and light. Leans more toward an IPA than a wheat. It’s very interesting and definitely worth giving a try.

An American Wheat IPA is not a recognized type of beer yet, but North Peak has successfully brought the two types of beer together nicely. It has a nice hoppy aroma, full body that finishes with some very nice dry bitter notes. It has the smoothness of a wheat beer, but it does not leave you with that feelinig that most wheat beers leave, like you just ate a whole loaf of bread.

Bottle. Poured hazy dark golden color with a large frothy off-white head that lasted with good lacing. Moderate to heavy earthy hop and wheat aroma. Medium to full body with a smooth texture and soft carbonation. Moderate to heavy bittersweet flavor with a moderate to heavy bittersweet finish of moderate duration. Very good brew.

Pours a cloudy, amber color with an off-white head. Aroma is mostly citrus and floral hops right away. Some malt background as well. Flavor starts off well with the citrus and floral hops. Not much of a lingering flavor that disappoints.

hazy orange with large white head, not overly attractive. mostly citrus to the nose. some bitterness before a weak hop flavor, mostly citrus, before a cloying sweetness from the crystal malt and residual sweetness that makes it seem poorly fermented, overall a far below average ipa, a borderline drain pour

11.5 ounce bottle, bottled on December 21, 2010. Served in a pint glass, the beer pours a clear orange/amber color with about an inch off-white head. Aroma is mostly citrusy (orange, grapefruit) and piney hops, along with some bready/wheat malt. The taste is similar to the aroma, it taste mostly like citrusy (orange peel, grapefruit) and pine/grassy hops, and some grainy/bready malt. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it’s a bit coating and is well carbonated. Drinkability is good, it’s smooth and goes down easy. I think it’s a good brew, I liked it. I’ll have to try more of the North Peak brews in the future.

A decent IPA with significant wheat added. An orangey piney IPA taste. Nice orange appearance and creamy foamy head. The wheat adds to the creamy mouthfeel. Hop aromas. Good drinkability, likely the wheat balances potential astringency from the hops.