Northern Lights IPA

Brewed by Northern Lights Brewing Co.
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Spokane, Washington USA

Tap at Fiddler’s.

This SOB came out of absolutely nowhere to blow my mind. The brewery totally wasn’t on my radar, I ordered expecting yet another ordinary PacNW IPA at best, and then I got this lovely schooner of pineapple-juicy hoppy goodness, bitterness just right, balanced and not too resinous, not overabundance of sugars but fully rich in flavor and mouth. After drinking a couple of others, I followed the lovely Alaskan Barleywine with one last schooner of this; it acquitted itself admirably even on the heels of that monster.

A truly under-appreciated, underrated gem.

Pungent aroma of hops, pine, spruce, evergreen, grapefruit, and light caramel malt. Poured copper/amber in color with a large, dense, off-white head that diminished but lasted throughout. Cloudy. Slightly sparkling. Full of tiny particles throughout. Flavor is medium to heavily bitter. Tastes of hops, pine, spruce, grapefruit, light caramel malts, and a hint of weed. Medium body. Dry texture. Average carbonation. Hoppy, pine, light caramel malt finish is dry. Wish I knew what the ABV is.

Draught @ WABF 2008. Pours a hazy amber color with a small slightly off-white head. Has a malty hoppy grapefruit aroma. Malty hoppy grapefruit flavor. Has a sweetish malty hoppy finish with some bitterness in the aftertaste.

Taster - Northern Lights Brewing Co. - Spokane, WA
Aroma – Nice malt backing to a lot of hops in the nose.
Appearance – Amber in color, thin head and clear.
Flavor – Great IPA flavor this was a huge over 60IBU beer. Malt had little flavoring.
Palate – Nice Mouthfeel, good IPA texture with a dry Hops finish.
Overall – A very good IPA this was one of the better beers for the day.

Sample tray. Woody hop nose entices but does not overpower. Apricot start to flavour. Citrus-apricot finish. Good IPA. Dry and fruity.

Draft: Amber colored pour with a strong piney aroma to it. Not a big piney flavored fan, but it finished bitter, slightly sweet.

On tap at the brewpub in Spokane. Deep orange in appearance - most notable characteristic on this guy is its earthy qualities - especially in the finish. Rather straight forward interpretation of the style and is just your standard brewpub IPA...ya dig? The only beer here I really felt like trying...

On draught at the brewery. Aroma is earthy, citrus, grassy hops forward with low malt character. Appearance is light copper with a medium white head. Flavor is sweet citrus hops with a malt balance forward followed by earthiness, fruity hops and a wide range of additional hop flavors tough to quantify. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium carb texture. Overall, a great super hoppy complexity, even for an IPA.