Town Hall Masala Mama IPA

Perfect deep amber/bronze color, a great, milk-shakey froth, with tapioca-esque bubbling, atop. Aroma: intense citrus, grapefruit, pineapple, and pine, sharp, lively, and highly appealing hoppiness, all from Cascade, by the way. It's a powerful and potent nose, and I like to drink it in more, before I start to sip. Hops are the main ingredient on board the palate, of course, bitter, yes, but ever-so-tasty, and it's all over the mouth. Medium body, impressive mouthfeel, never-ending hop presense, just enough malt to back it up, with a long, sticky, delicious finish. Mmmm! The Mama gives and gives and asks little in return but your gratitude and appreciation, and that you return to drink of her again, not a hard promise to keep, I assure you. My favorite beer, one I've grown to adore over the years and return to again and again. Hopheads of the world, Minneapolis beckons!

Sampled on-cask at the brewery on July 3rd, 2005... On my visit to the legendary Town Hall Brewery, I was expecting nothing short of the best from this beer. IPAs are my favorite style, so I figured I had better try the beer some label as the "best" IPA in the world. Well, I can honestly say that after trying it, it set the bar....and set the bar pretty damn high. I was lucky enough to sample this legendary concoction in it’s purest form...on-cask, at the brewery. Also, considering the ridiculous hype that surrounds this beer, I was amazed with how impressed I really was. Out of the hand-pump, the bubbles cascade beautifully up & down in the hazy orange brew. When it finally settles down, the head sits proudly atop a beer that essentially looks like perfection in a glass. The aroma from this brew is incredible...as rich and aromatic as any IPA I’ve ever had. The lacing is the best I’ve seen on a beer to date..entire rings of sticky lacing form on every sip...I’ve never seen anything quite like it before. Then there’s the taste..how many hop varieties they use, I do not know...but whatever the recipe is, I want it. Not too bitter, not too sweet..just perfectly well-balanced and smooth. I’m sure being on-cask helped with the smoothness, but I’ve never had a beer that went down as good as this one did. It’s just a damn good thing I don’t live in Minneapolis, that’s all I have to say.

Originally reviewed back on 3/30/04. Received 4.85 score. Added to my RB list to check "Minnesota" as a beer state consumed. Growler trade(s) with Al (who else?) many times over the years. Solid hop bomb with hop oils and resins and juicy fruitiness dripping from the glass. Solid copper coloring and healthy head. Smells absolutely stunning. A favorite of mine. The hype is worthy.

I had this at a tasting I blindly stumbled upon over the labor day weekend. This was poured from half gallon growler into a wine tasting glass. The color was a nice rich amber with a very decent head and carb bubble. The nose was staggeringly good. The hops came through piney and earthy with a citrusy grapefruit background. I had to actually stop myself from smelling it to taste it. The flavor matched the nose very well. The piney hop took center stage, supported with a sweet grapefruit backdrop. The hop flavor didn’t linger, but instead, the aftertaste was sweet and mellow. This was a thick feeling beer, but just about where I wanted it for what it is. Unfortunately for me, I was actually dressed for and on my way to a wedding so I only had the one small sample glass, but I could easily have taken the growler with me and sat in the back of the church annointing myself with this most holy beverage. I am going to have to try and get a growler of this sometime.

poured from a growler into a pint glass, thanks to LordSloth for the trade (consumed: 2/15/08) A: Pours a beautiful, rich copper with a fast-rising creamy off-white head that lasts forever and a day and immediately begins to leave sticky spiderweb lacing. The beer’s clarity is also worth nothing, I could read a novel through this if I wasn’t so preoccupied with getting it into my belly. S: Mmmm...hops! My best guess is Cascade or Centennial, or a combination of the both of them, as pine & citric grapefruit scents are dominant. Not to be outdone though, there is a very nice cookie/bread malt character here as well. T/M: I was expecting to be smashed in the taste buds with hops right up front, but an unexpected initial burst of sweet bready malts begins the journey, then followed by a smack of bitter citric hops, with a deliciously bitter grapefruit finish. Perfect levels of carbonation make this seem like a cream soda, the oils from the hops coat the tongue and leave your palate wanting more. D: All I will say is that I wish like hell I had this beer available to me 24/7. Highest recommendation.