21st Amendment Brew Free or Die IPA

21st Amendment Brewery
Brewed at Cold Spring Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
San Francisco, California USA

12 oz. can courtesy of golubj. Pours a clear dark golden color with a medium sized fluffy white head. The aroma is what you would expect from a west coast ipa, although not as bold. Moderately sweet malt and a mixture of citrus and floral hops. The flavor had a nice caramel and bready malt backbone surrounded by the grapefruit citrus hops. The bitterness lingered through the finish with a hint of pine coming in as well. The can was a nice touch especially while tailgating.

Tap at the brewpub. The body was deep amber to copper with an off white head. The aroma was grapefruit and almonds. Sweet and fruity. The taste was bitter grapefruit with a brown sugar sweetness. Woody and dry in the finish. Solid overall, with a full mouth feel. I would certainly buy this canned if I could.

12oz can courtesy of raiser poured into a pint glass. Pours a light, clear golden amber with a one-finger fluffy white head that dissipates to a small cap and leaves very good lacing. First aroma is citrus hops, grapefruit and tangerine, with hints of pine as well. There is an underlying toasted malt aroma that remains secondary to the hops. The taste is hoppy as well, but the toasted malts are much more prevalent and give the taste a bready character. There is a big hop bitterness up front with lots of lemons and grapefruit which comes back in the finish and leaves a bitter aftertaste. The mouthfeel is light to medium for the style with good carbonation. This is a pretty good IPA but not at the top of my list of West Coast IPAs. This may not have been the freshest can as the hops were pretty tame.

A pretty classic west coast IPA. Lots of citrus hops in the nose, flavor, and finish. Well done.

12oz can. Pours a clear gold-ish copper with a minimal white head. Hoppy aroma that is more dank than crisp. Good hop flavor, but thin and kind of flat.

Pours like you’d expect a canned beer to pour: Very foamy. The beer itself is actually pretty decent. Could use a little more hoppiness, but other than that, it’s quite good for the style. There is a honey flavor in the body that adds a little welcome sweetness. Sorry, but the can just doesn’t do it for me; I think I would’ve enjoyed this a little more (at least for psychological reasons) if it was bottled. Overall, good to very good.

Clear amber liquid with a compact soapy head. Slightly better aroma than flavor. Hops are floral, piney and citric in that order. A tad too bitter in the finish. Well, perhaps not too bitter but not rich enough to support the bitterness. Some good oiliness. A pretty good IPA that I feel guilty for not supporting more as its from my hometown. I like the can.

12oz can. Pours golden with some/minimal head that diminishes. Aroma has pine/floral notes, taste has some straw and apple/pear, sweet and bitter. Good lacing, finishes bitter, slightly oily texture.