Rock Bottom Boston Improper Hopper IPA

Brewed by Rock Bottom Boston
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Boston, Massachusetts USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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En fût. Verre de dégustation dégusté à l’établissement de Boston (MA). Arôme: Forte odeur d’ananas et de pins. Apparence: La couleur est blonde orangée légèrement voilée. Présence d’un mince col mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût d’agrumes et de pins. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement huileuse. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Légère amertume en arrière goût. (Rating #1098)

Sampler from tap at the brewpub in Boston. Pours unclear orange with a lacing head. Floral hops aroma, mild grapefruit note. Flavour is grapefruity hops with sweet maltbase. Finish is fruity bitter. Ordinary ipa.

On tap at the Boston location. Served via cask. Pours a cloudy orange/golden with a medium size foamy lacing head. Aroma was very floral with lots of sweet citrus, mostly orange with some caramel malt. Flavor was a great grapefruit, mandoran orange flavor up front followed by some nice caramel malt sweetness, toasted grainy/cereal malts. Nice hop bitterness that lingers. Very nice hoppy IPA flavor but with enough malt to balance.

3 cask pints at RB Boston on 2/8/07
Very generous, frothy/rocky white head spills over the glass and laces both the inside and out. Very good conditioning on cask leads to minimal haze and light carbonation. The body is just a step up from a San Diego pale IPA, having some bit of crystal or munich malt (some medium malt that lends a toastiness and slight copper-peach color). Strong retention as well.
First whiff is a cool gust of floral hops with light evergreen and wintergreen mixed in. Very fresh, crisp and snappy, with the snappiness accentuated by the toasted malts behind it. The malt adds a bit of sourish/sourdough character and while I don’t think it’s necessary for any amount to be in an IPA, it’s not overdone or overbearing. But back to the hops, it’s a pleasant mix of floral and mild citrus, with some candied orange and pale malt sweetness mixed in. No beat you over the head with grapefruit here. Medium-high strength as well and nicely conditioned to keep out any flaws.
Unique taste, which is a good thing for this rampant style. The first sip is wet (as it should be for a cask ale) but not watery, with peaches, mangoes, conifers and candied oranges all sharing balance throughout. Very well-attenuated pale malts add just a bit of sweetness, a pinch of sweet cream really, while light dextrines matched with the tight, but light carbonation give a borderline fluffy-creamy texture. It loosens on the end and allows more hop and pale malt sugar. Some fresh leafiness is noted, before the medium malt toastiness bears its fangs. Adding a slightly acidic, toasty/sour twang, it halts the brightness at the finish and shifts the flavor to a more peachy hoppiness with less crispness. Still, the body holds up and the medium malts arent too overbearing. And if you have any interest in them at all, you’ll certainly enjoy this and wonder what the hell I’m bitching about. Fruity, lightly sweet, very nice floral flavor/bitterness and well done on cask. Very drinkable, no alcohol noted nor other flaws.

Boston Location. Hazy orange beer, thin tan head. Fresh hop aroma. Grapefruit hop aroma, strong resinous dry hops and a bit of tropical fruit character. Flavour is well-developed, light bready malts, sweet fruity hops, grapefruit and mango. Very well-executed, fresh and hoppy. Lowish bitterness but lots of fresh sweet hop character. Very tasty.

On Cask
Aroma: grassy, dry-hopped, hops
Appearance: slightly murky, golden amber, large cream head, lacing
Flavor: cascade hops, hop leaves, hop pellets
Palate: smooth, slightly bubbly
Overall: very unidimensional--just hops, no wood, fruit, or anything else

Sampled at the Boston location, gold orangeish color, with a ring of white head, fruity, piney floral hops nose, with a spicy coniferous aroma follows through on a medium-bodied palate with a sort of peachy, piney, grassy character, and a earthy pale malt, with a juicy oily hops accent, leading towards a fruity resinous bitter finish.

On tap at the Braintree location: poured cloudy yellow/orange with a medium white head. Served ice cold. Hoppy, earthy aroma. Nice lacing. Well hopped flavor, earthy and a bitter finish. Pretty nice IPA.

on cask at rock bottom in boston. very grapefruity hoppy aroma, mellow hazy orange. some yeasty piney smells too. very smooth and quite enjoyable.

Draft, Rock Bottom Boston. Beautiful golden orange, cloudy, bearing a light white head. Not much malt backs up the pleasantly spicy hops, citrusy and very bitter. Coniferous notes, herbs, chives and spices contribute to the refreshing nature. Globally good IPA, high carbonation fits the light body, this could score big with a better malt base.