Pennichuck Halligan IPA

Formerly brewed at Pennichuck Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Milford, New Hampshire USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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UPDATED: JAN 22, 2009 In short: An old tired and lifeless rotting IPA. Between boring and bad.
How: Bottle 22oz. Tasting session with Montreal crew.
The look: Clear golden copper body topped by an off-white ring of foam.
In long: Nose of stinky stale hops. Taste is basic caramel, a bit too sweet, old tired hops. Boring body that felt lifeless. Old too-ripe fruits. An overall sensation of staleness/moist/rot. I’ve been a big fan of this brewery and with this brew they write another chapter in their so-so brewing history. More beers like that and the next chapter could be Chapter 11.

22oz. Bottle: Aroma of toasted malts, pine, resin, and rye. Poured orange/amber in color with a small white head that lasted throughout. Slightly hazy. Slightly sparkling. Small lacing. Flavor is medium bitter. Tastes of toasted malts, caramel, hops, pine, resin, rye, and oil. Medium body. Sticky texture. Average carbonation. Bitter, toasted malt, resin, and rye finish is sticky.

Appearance: Pours a clear, mahogany-hued body with a thin, bubbly, white head. Smell: Aroma of caramel and rye bread with notes of unsweetened tea and fruit. Taste: Upfront maltiness of dry bread and caramel, though there’s never much sweetness. Sip of English Breakfast tea. Light fruitiness. Lightly spicy rye juts up against a citrusy, tangerine hop character. Medium-plus bitterness. Finishes dry with a lingering bitterness. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Comes up a bit watery. Drinkability: So-so. A bit bland and lacks the charm of many other India Pale Ales and rye-based brews.

22 oz bomber. Pours a clear mild amber with a tiny white head. Aroma of faint hops and mild honey. Taste of mild hops, light honey with a hint of floral ones. Average.

Bottle. Relatively mild malty aroma. Orange amber body, off-white head. Flavor is much maltier and less citrus than the usual IPA, and not nearly as assertive. Drinkable, but not my preference in this style.

<i>My bottle (22oz) shared with HogTownHarry, garthicus, jerc & mabel.</i> Pours a clear golden-orange with an average size diminishing white head. Mild aroma of resiny hops, pale malt and some grain. Simple, easy-drinking flavour of resiny hops and caramel malt and a decent bitter finish. Average bodied. A good IPA.

Bottle: Pours amber/copper with good clarity and a strong off-white head. Somewhat sweet aroma. Sweet rye character with peanut brittle and some mild huskiness as well. There’s a touch of earthy hop that comes through.Decent creamy texture. Substantial malt presence in the flavor. Hearty rye character giving it a sweet, honey like back along with peanut notes, husky suggestions, and mild American hop character offering a subdued peach fruitiness to the profile. The finish is late and slightly resiny, and is accompanied by residual malt sweetness. Could have used more hop character- not enough spiciness to balance.

My Bottom Line
Fruity caramel and floral, earthy hoppiness politely engage conversation in this prickly and healthy India Pale Ale.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A ring of foam surrounds the clear bronzed amber.
-The finishing leafy hop bitterness is lenient.
-It felt like the hops very either tired or the beer too old; they had few of the desired traits described in their commercial presentation. In any case, one expects more freshness and brightness for an American-brewed IPA.
-Orangey fruitiness flows on by, agreeing with the slender caramel malts.

Bottle.

Sweet aroma of hops and malt. Clear dark orange color with a small white head. Sweet malt beginning with a hoppy middle and a mild finish. Palate is good in the beginning but thins out in the end.

22oz bottle. Poured a medium and clear amber color with a smaller sized off white head. Aromas of floral, citrus, grains, rye, and some caramel. Tastes of citrus, grains, rye, and light caramel.