Russian River Blind Pig IPA

Brewed by Russian River Brewing
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Santa Rosa, California USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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On tap at O’Brien’s 1/19/07. Usually drinking a triple then a double IPA then a regular IPA might cause problems. Not true with Blind Pig. Poured clear dark yellow with no head. There was a very minimal hoppy aroma. This brew has a huge front heavy hoppy taste, that has an incrediblly large bitter punch. The supreme bitterness may be partially obliterating my taste buds. This brew for 6% is quite difficult to drink quickly.

(on-tap @ Toronado) pint is a very pretty glowing orange/amber, with a sticky white head that retains well and leaves good lace. nose is wonderful, like sugar-dipped lemon slices, maybe chewed in a bed of pine needles. flavor is fuller and richer than Vinnie’s normal IPAs - a lot of chewy malts up-front with tons of citric hop flavor and a good whack of bitterness in the back. great burps. great beer, but perhaps a bit heavy for multiple pints.

UPDATED: JUL 14, 2007 Pours a fairly clear light amber with a loose white head. Aroma is huge pine and grapefruit. Body is med. light with med. CO2. The flavors are very hop forward, very piney, very heavily grapefruit, (Chinook and cascade?) and the malts are barely even there. Just enough to lightly balance the hop flavor but not enough to balance the bitterness which is intense, maybe bordering on astringent. Extremely dry finish. This is one hell of an IPA and deserving of all the hype it has gotten. Just beautiful.

Draught Toronado Pub. Beautiful perfumy hop aroma. Hazy dark gold. Lighter in color than the Moonlight Bombay by Boat IPA I had previously. Artful lace. Excellent lace. Very good bitterness. Best IPA of the night. Outstanding.

GABF 2006: Clear amber color with an off-white head. Nice strong piney, resiny, grapefruit and earthy hop aroma that carries over to the flavor. The hops almost hide the caramel maltiness. Solid IPA.

GABF 2006. Amber body with a small white head. Aroma is big piney hops and some grapefruit and orange peel. Taste is fruity and bitter with more evergreen, caramel, sweet malts and citrus peels. Body is medium-full with a resinous, oily feel. Finishes with more piney and citric hops, caramel and sweet creamy malts. Nice IPA, but would you expect anything less from Russian River?

Pour is clear golden with a thin off white head...piney resinous nose...aggressively bitter flavor...nice malty undertones of biscuits and bread, but strongly citrus bitter...

Draft... GABF ’06... Mostly clear golden ale with a small, frothy, off-white head. Earthy, piney, woodsy aroma. The flavor leans just a tad on the bitter side of balance; a pinch of salt. Medium-bodied and astringent with medium carbonation. Lengthy, medium bitter, dry finish.

Somewhat vegetative hop character. This a 90s blast from the harsh hop past. Lots of pine and grapefruit in the nose. Mild malt body that is dominated by the very vegetative bitterness. Astringent finish that makes me grab a Pliny.

UPDATED: JAN 30, 2007 Draft. Very pale copper color with a white head. Strong grapefruit and piney aromas. Flavor is bitter and very hop forward with grapefruit, pine, grass and fruit notes. Very crisp. Dry, bitter finish. A true west coast IPA.