Thomas Hooker Hop Meadow IPA

Brewed by Thomas Hooker Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Bloomfield, Connecticut USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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a solid amber color to this brew, it had a piney large hop aroma. the body was thick accented with citrus hoppiness. decent brew i must say.

A dark amber appearance with a large head. The aroma is damn nice with some perfume, pine, and quite malty. The flavor is also very malty for an IPA but seems to acheive a good balance. I taste grapefruit, lemons, and raisins. Overall a very nice one.

UPDATED: FEB 6, 2006 Draught pint at Redbones on 2/4/06. A pale copper to tangerine flesh colored body is clear and rather bubbly. Frothy, small, but moderately well-retained white colored head sticks atop, with some light, spotty lacing. The aroma conveys a deep and intricately woven hoppiness amongst light caramel, plenty of pale malt sugars, a bit of dough and slight toasted grains. Floral, but with a light citrus edge, fairly light, almost lemon-oriented, but gaining some soft green fuzziness as it warms and perhaps a bit of strong, fresh herbs or grass. The flavor shows basic pale malts with lychee, hickory nuts, limes and wet grass. A fair amount of citrus begins to build, with a good amount of round acidity and drying bitterness. Even seems like some munich malt dryness on the end, creating a bit of breadiness. Creamy, thick mouthfeel, very wet and rather heavy, actually. No alcohol apparent. Carbonation is firm.

This thing pours a red body that is much darker than I expected for an IPA. The head is a nice, dense foam. The aroma is a very fresh hop bouquet (lots of the C hops). Very resiny aroma. The flavor is malty enough to match the rich red color. Caramels and a bit of fruit form a nice core for the beer, a little on the sweet side. The hop aroma and aggressive bitterness don’t quite blend with the malt flavors, but this is still a good beer.

Pours nice with a good full inch head that hold firm until the first sip. Amber in color. Assertive hop aroma and very piney hop flavor. Dry crisp malt and hop bite that lingers for a good 4-5 seconds after swallow. I feel a little off balance, as the back end is much stronger (relatively speaking) than the front and middle. Overall I like this one, perhaps I am partial given my nutmeg state origins. Go UConn!

Thanks to Boto via trade. This beer poured out a cloudy orange color with a nice sized frothy head. Aroma was all hops, right in the face no holding back. I liked the bitterness of it, it reminded me a bit of Ruination, but lacked the content and punch of Ruination. This beer none the less was a pretty decent brew

Dark copper pour with a rather large head which recedes to a filmy tan froth with nice lacing. Strong pine and grapefruit aroma. Piney taste, very west-coasty as advertised. I’ll call it medium bodied. Bitter throughout but not really enough malt to back it up. All piney hops which linger long into the finish. Even when warmed at the end of the bomber, it’s still all hops. Needs more balance to appeal to most drinkers but the piney hops and rather high bitterness makes it appeal to me. Very good.

Pours amber-ruby with decent sized off-white head. Lots of grapefruit hop aroma with a little herbal quality as well. Light caramel nose. Only moderately hoppy at the start, progressing to a long-littering bitter grapefruit hop finish. I don’t get any of the slight maltiness I smelled. It tends to the dry side and could use a little more malt to balance out the strong hoppy finish. Overall, pretty nice.

Pours a clear golden amber with a lasting off white head. Aroma is dominated by citrusy hops. Flavor is quite bitter and hoppy. Somewhat astringent it slaps your tongue with hoppiness. Finish is long and bitter with a clear taste of grapefruit.

Poured a clear deep copper ruby color and a large off white head. Nice full hoppy aroma. Grapefruit and pine with some sweet malt hiding out underneath. Flavors starts with caramel malt and quickly moves to citrus hop flavor and bitterness. As the hops die down the malt comes back and follows the bitterness to a long finish. Very nice.