Swamp Head Big Nose

Brewed by Swamp Head Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Gainesville, Florida USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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Draft… Clear amber ale with a mid-sized, creamy, white head. Decent retention. The nose provides toffee, light caramel, medium roast grains and not a whole lot of hops, although there is a unassuming floral note. Medium to full-bodied and mildly creamy with dancing carbonation. The flavor is clean and caramely with only moderate bitterness. Crisp, mildly caramely, lightly bitter finish. Flawless in execution, but this is more along the lines of a very good American pale ale or amber ale.

A hazy amber ale with a thin lacing white head. A pleasant floral hops aroma, classic, a bit piney, with caramel notes. In mouth, a smooth IPA with light malts, smooth hopping, medium bodied. On tap at Cigar City, Jan. 5 2011.

Poured golden with small head smelled woody earty and slight hop tasted slight biiter hops withwoody aftertaste decent very drinkable

Draught at a Pizza Joint Near Orlando: Aroma of fruity hops, light caramel, and malt. Poured copper/orange in color with a tiny, white head that is just a film on top of the beer. Clear. Lightly sparkling. Flavor is medium sweet and light to medium bitter. Tastes of caramel malt, hops, light fruit, and slight rye. Medium body. Average texture. Average carbonation. Medium sweet, lightly bitter caramel malt and hop finish. An average IPA. 7.3%ABV is completely hidden throughout.

UPDATED: SEP 4, 2011 Tap at fermentation lounge. Had this a few times before but hadn’t rated. Minty, grapefruit, bitter, light metallic. Wil need to try again for a more proper rate. Tasty enough though.

Appearance: dark orange with amber burn marks. Head is orange-white and fades into a thin film pretty fast. Swirling leaves thick layers of lace stuck to sides of glass.
Nose: wet and sticky with orange and orange nectar. Faint wet hop cones, their resins an afterthought. More digging reveals little of anything else; too mild for an IPA.
Palate: medium body with a frothy mouthfeel. Hops hit bright in the middle with a sticky finish of orange nectar and hop resins. Very brash and obtrusive in the middle with an abrasive dry hop rub. Bitterness is hard and lingers on top of tongue for a long while after each quaff. Sweetness settles more into the front and back. Continues to grow harsh and abrasive as warms up.
Final Thoughts: quite the jumbled mess of an IPA. A weak nose led me into a harsh encounter with hop cones in the wild; painfully prickly and rough like sandpaper. The only descent flavor addition was the orange nectar.

Excellent IPA, good bitterness that is balanced by a decent amount of malt,

Tap at Maggie’s Attic. Brownish pour with little head. Some citrus hops poke through on the nose, but disappointed. Light malt body with some citrus hop bitterness. I wanted more out of this.

Draft. Pours golden-amber with a big white head. Flavor is pine and grapefruit balanced with a big sweet malt. Very respectable IPA.

Cloudy orange, big white head. Smokey, earthy aroma, with some honey notes. Flavor is citrusy, some caramel in the background, and some vegetal notes. Tasty, easy to drink.