Russian River IPA

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

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

25April07 on tap @ Russian River. orange color, fizzy white head. great lacing. aroma of a west coast IPA, all the way. Yeah Dude! sharp bitter flavor. malt is in the finish, nice English malt but that bitterness lingers, PERFECT IPA! I enjoyed this milder version much more than ELDER.

UPDATED: NOV 20, 2008 Strong, multi layer hop flavor. Malt plays an excellent supporting role to all the hop goodness. Perfect choice of hops. An amazing beer, would easily be the flagship product at 99% of other breweries

Enjoyed this with friends at Issac Newton’s in Newtown, PA. On tap, served a chilled (sigh) shaker. Deep golden, brilliant, clear and delicious. Nice white head dissipates fairly quickly. Some lacing. All about the hops — delicious flowery aroma and bitter finish that is a little bit sour and sweet. Would be delicious with a Szechuan stir fry or with Vietnamese chile dumplings. Dark flavor, roasty, and an exemplar of the style. I really really want to try some of the bigger brews by RR.

UPDATED: NOV 20, 2004 On tap at the brewery. Nice amber color. just a bit of malt. Tons of hop bitterness. The chalkboard behind the bar said it had 63 IBU’s- I would have guessed more. A damn fine IPA, one of the best I’ve had!

UPDATED: AUG 30, 2009 First sampled on tap at Lucky Baldwin’s IPA Festival ’07. Clear, bright copper-orange-gold with a fine, creamy off-white head. Full hops aroma profile with herbaceous grassy notes up front and pine needles following. The flavor is dry with no malt sweetness. Clean, fresh hops flavors of grass, herbs, and orange rind. Posesses a straightforward bitterness that leaves a satisfying, clean-cut finish. The body is extremely smooth and conveys the bitterness superbly--it glides across the tongue giving the impression of lightness yet it is quite substantive nonetheless with a good, clean malt presence without any malty sweetness. Superb.

On draft at the brewub in Santa Rosa. Pours a dark golden yellowish orange that is clear for the most part with pale golden hues when held to a light source and a two finger soapy white head that has decent retetion, only slowly fading into a lasting cap and ring. Nice sweet citrus hop aroma with lots of uberfresh sank oily hops. Hints of lemon peel, mango and grapefruit. Slight earthy pine and subtle malt presence but this one is all about the fresh hops. Uberfresh dank oily medium body with incredible fresh hops bursting through. This beer is a bit more dry than I expected but still has a lot of sweet citrus notes. Plenty of lemon peel, grapefruit and mango to go along with the dry earthy pine. Dry finish. ABV is invisible and this is so flavorful that it’s dangerously drinakble. Highly recommended!

From a growler purchased at Russian River by calir1 (a HUGE thanks to Kelly for this one). Pours dark orange with a fluffy white head. The aroma is pure piney and grassy hops. The flavor doesn’t dissapoint; the hops are huge yet the beer overall doesn’t seem heavy. The flavor, while extremely hoppy, does have a nice malt profile that helps balance this beer. I can’t help but compare this beer to one of my other favorite IPAs, Ballast Point Big Eye IPA. Since I am trying this from a growler that was filled approximately 96 hours ago it doesn’t quite live up to Big Eye but it isn’t far off. This is an outstanding IPA.

On tap at Russian River in August 2009. A: Pours a golden yellow with a nice off white head and a good deal of lacing. S: Loads of citrus hops. T: Same as the smell, with a very nice bitterness to it. M: Medium bodied with good carbonation. D: Incredible drinkability. Of all the RR IPA’s, this one might be the most drinkable. Fantastic. Serving type: on-tap Reviewed on: 10-04-2009