Pike IPA

Brewed by Pike Pub & Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Seattle, Washington USA

very easy to drink, but a tad light in the mouth .. not quite live @ wembley, an enjoyable brew .. pours with a nice head, and caramel colour.. lacks a hop pine aroma in mass .. a good sessionable ipa...

Deep amber-orange color. Clear bold hop middle with a hint of citrus (lemon), then a lingering hoppiness after the swallow. Definitely PNW hops. Good balance. Overall a solid IPA.

I drank this some months ago so reviewing from (foggy) memory. Poured smooth and fizzy with a slight head, Smell was slightly more rummy than i was expecting. Taste was kinda leaning more to the citrus side of things...tangerine, apricots, etc. Finished off with some easy going hop bitterness and all was well. I liked it.

Pours a hazy orange with a thin head. Very herbaceous and floral nose, with a touch of garbage at the end. A bit bitter but pleasant, flavors of lemon peel and water cracker.

Pours copper with a 1 inch white head. cloudy. Aroma has a light floral character. A run of the mill pale ale. Tastes like some english malt with American hops. The malt is thick and the mouthfeel heavy. Finish is bitter and a little bland.

Slightly hazy amber coloured body with an orange glow, a frothy tan head and a bunch of small bubbles - this IS what an IPA should look like! Aroma of fresh hops, caramel, pine, flowers and a lot of fresh apricots - this is very nice. Medium-bodied. Strong chewy malt up front with good hops and a lot of nuts and alcohol following behind. Aftertaste shows a ton of pine, some flowers and more malt than hops - a bit wierd there. Overall, a great IPA by look and smell, but the taste loses something and it feels too rich and malty for an IPA. I still liked it, but prefer more traditional IPAs. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from BottleWorks in Seattle, Washington on 11-November-2008, sampled at home in Washington DC on 08-December-2008.

A solid pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces a three-finger thick, light tan colored head. The beer is an amber tinged, copper hue that shows an almost clear, copper color when held up to the light. The aroma is not overwhelmingly hoppy, but is hop dominated with notes of grapefruit, orange juice, tangerine zest and a touch of lychee. There is some malt character noticeable in the nose as well with a bit of sticky crystal malt, lightly toasted malt, a bit of biscuit character or perhaps more of a cracker like note of grain.

A bit thin somehow with a washed out citrus hop character, both of which have me wondering if it is my palate or the beer. There is a solid hop bitterness here that resides throughout the flavor profile. Lingering in the finish is both the hop bitterness as well as a thin, but sweet crystal malt character that just allows some citrus character to linger for a bit; really what ends up lingering in the long finish is a bit of herbal / menthol character and the hop bitterness. Somehow the citrus hop character, in combination with the crystal malt and body, just comes off as being thin and wan. Crystal malt character contributes a distracting flavor similar to sweet tea.

Not that great of an IPA, seems a bit washed out and, due to the lack of hop character, a bit too dominated by crystal malt flavors.

Purchased: Liquid Solutions

On tap at the pub. Well balanced and subtle. NOt dominating on any aspect of the brew, but yeilds a quenching finish. The cask version of the IPA is quite smooth and its creamy nature helps to provide contrast with the hops and is quite good as well.