Town Hall Big Ticket IPA

Slightly hazy copper colored beer. Light tan head, maybe 2" that diminishes to just covering the top of the beer. Lighter in the aroma department than I expected, but still smells pretty good. Just nothing prominent or overwhelming. Initial taste is pure hops - floral and citrus - quite bitter, but in a good way. Scratch that, in a very good way. The citrus is like chewing on a grapefruit rind. Slight piney hops in the aftertaste. There’s also an ashy harness to the hops. That looks bad in print, but really it is a welcome, pleasing characteristic. Maybe you have too be a hophead to understand what I mean. There is a subtle carmel malt flavor very far in the background. I also detect a very slight taste of wild rice.

I don’t know what everyone is enjoying in this beer. I had the cask style. Looked like a hefeweizen. Mild hop aroma. Flavor of more hops, lightly sweet, with a strange, and not very good vegetable quality. The Masala Mama is much better.

I was relieved when I arrived at Town Hall Brewery last night that the Big Ticket IPA had not run out yet. Beautifully hoppy, piney aroma. Cloudy amber appearance with excellent lace and an off-white head. Head is smallish. Very hoppy flavor with a reasonable amount of sweetness. Initial mouthfeel is a little thinner than I had hoped. Perhaps not enough alcohol? A very nice brew; improves as it warms. Not a session brew but has excellent piney hops. I enjoyed it so much I bought a growler of it to take home.

Poured from a growler into a Duvel glass, giving the head full reign of 3/4 of the glass, at first, anyway...Color's a bright, bold, peachy hue, head is astondingly lacey, pure white, delicate and delightful...Aroma: Wow! full-blown fruit, huge hoppiness, ...a verdant, lush pine forest, tropical, bowling over with with a potent, even fierce hop bouquet...we catch pineapple, cherry, mango, grapefruit, nectarine, ...it's a hornest hive of hops, that I stretch out the smelling to enjoy as long as I can...mmm, that's the stuff! Wow! Taste it, already: full mouthfeel, rich, totally in charge of the tongue and roundly filling the mouth. And here's the shock of it, though: I've had Double IPAs before, the super-sticky, resiny, spikey kind that pounce the palate without a comforting cushion of malt behind, and I've enjoyed them, but this is not one of those, for the hops are sweeter and juicier, but the malt backbone is strong and able. The body is full and the finish is generous, loaded with spicy, fruity flavor. This has been so well-received at the pub that some, I've been told have lobbied for it to replace my favorite beer, their Masala Mama IPA, and to that I say, "over my dead body." Yum, though, yum, yummy, yummers...

This is an amazingly well balanced, smooth and creamy double ipa. The hops are very similar to the masala mama's but amped up a notch with extra malt to match. It is sweeter than masala and not the session ipa that the mama is. 6.7 feels much more like 9 since it is so smooth and drinkable that before you know it you better buy your Big bus Ticket home. The hops/sweet interplay is wonderful. Aromatic, spicy and citrusy. The Dreadnaught is more nuanced and complex, but the big ticket is extremely satisfying. We are very lucky to have Town Hall!