Sebago Fryes Leap IPA

Brewed by Sebago Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Gorham, Maine USA

(draft, S.Portland) Crystal clear amber body with off-white head. Aroma is medium sweet, grapefruit/orange, some biscuit. Taste is medium sweet, orange/earthy, light bread. Quite hoppy but not very bitter. Medium body, some chewiness.

Clear golden hue covered by a nice layer of white foam. Immediately citrusy hop dominated aroma, juicy(sweet), yet astringent grapefruit, oranges and lemon flavors don’t leave the room for much else. Well leveled bitterness leaves quickens the pace between the sips. A particularly clean, but thin, malt lacking example that focuses on one-dimensional hoppiness and quaffability. Next?

12 oz bottle-pours a rich off white head and yellow/gold color. Aroma is citrus/pine, medium malt. Taste is citrus/pine-slight bitter/dry, medium malt-caramel. OK/mild carbonation. Thanks Doug & Joy for bringing this one back.

Pours amber with a white head. Smells perfumy with some floral hints and spice. Tastes spicy and peppery with some floral hints and a citrussy, bitter finish.

The Lure:
Oranges, grapefruit, starfruit, name it. This is a clean, straightforward and diplomatic citrusy hop perfume, going for a direct hit into the IPA lovers’ hearts. There can’t be any oncoming surprises.

The Festivities:
Orangey hops and pink grapefruit follow up into a carefully laid out resinous bitterness, which happily lingers. There appears to be some watery passages, but they never dangerously thin out the lean honeyed body, only making the beer an easier quaff. This one has no outstanding personality; it is a bright, workmanlike, and delicate session IPA.

Transcendence:
The pounding of the hammers next door just stopped. It’s time for lunch.

Rerate: Hazy amber with a thick white head. The nose is pretty nice. A touch of light grapefruit over a soft crackery malt base. The flavour is pretty basic, but it works pretty well. I’m not sure what the deal is since the last bottle I had was pretty infected, but this one is drinking decently. A fairly peppery finish and a bit of light pine as well. Light amber with a huge (overcarbonated) rocky head. Very dusty aroma with a lightly oxidized cardboardy character. Lightly crackery. Some nice hoppy grapefruity aroma with a fairly citrusy hoppiness, but it doesn’t quite come together. The flavour isn’t quite right. Oxidized and cardboardy and not very good. A similar harsh minerally note as is present in the stout, but in the stout it kind of works... here not so much. 5 2 4 2 9

5 ounces of pure joy :) sampled with the willing and wanton ClarkVV at the brewpub. Wow, an IPA. I love IPAs, and I’ve been liking them especially this spring, maybe this will be the charm! Lessee...very light honey-amber color, clear with no head...faint citrusy hops compete in the nose with full-on diacetyl butter, and mostly lose in a photo finish...buttery, sugary body with some nice juicy orangy hops that try manfully to save the overall score and experience, but just don’t...salt at the end is a further insult.

The aroma was earthy with aged malt and sucking candy caramel. The hops were light. Malty caramel flavor with a hint of citrus at the very end. Dry finish.