Alaskan IPA

Brewed by Alaskan Brewing Co
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Juneau, Alaska USA

Pours a cloudy dark amber with small white head. Aroma is almost non existant. Flavor is generic hops, yeast, and an odd malt. Finish is copper. I’d rather not drink this beer again but not hideous.

Pours a nearly clear gold with a thin beige head and sheeting lace. This is one of the palest and clearest IPAs that I’ve ever seen. The nose is floral, fruity and lightly citric with a mild pale malt note in support; pretty subdued for the style. On the medium side of light-bodied, the palate is fairly quaffable. While it’s not quite "slick" it’s fairly poundable for an IPA, finishing with a subdued bitterness. Mirroring the aroma, only with a touch more intensity and better integration, the flavor is a blend of floral, fruity and lightly citric hop notes over a light malt backing. While I’ve had several IPAs that are more pleasing to the nose and palate, I can think of no other that matches this one for quaffability. (I love making up words.) Overall, its a decent IPA disguised as a pretty solid session beer. Given it’s ABV, that has the potential to be a dangerous combination.

Bottle thanks to zinister. Pour is cloudy copper with medium white head. Aroma is mildly hoppy, medium malt, and hints of fruit. Flavor is a bit disjointed: hops, malt, and yeast. Not a bad IPA but tastes a bit oxidized.

Cloudy orange with thick white head. Rough hop flavour, thin mouthfeel and short palate. Good but not outstanding.

Sampled at Made in the Shade 2009. Much better when bottled. This sampling, pours a deep gold with a two-finger head. Aroma is cardboard, hops, soap, and some sweet malt. Taste is very thin, soapy, and tastes old. I’m not sure what happened to this keg, but this is not the beer I remember. This seemed to be a common problem at this festival this year. (Rating average of two ratings)

Draft. A golden beer with a lazing white head. The aroma is sweet with notes of malt and caramel as well as light notes of hops - my guess is Cascade. The flavor is sweet with notes of malt and Cascade hops, leading to a dry, bitter, and grassy finish.

Bomber with many thanks to gorditoabd. Pours a fairly light gold with a big sudsy head and decent aromas of floral hops, a bit of pineapple and a touch of mango. Flavor is mild and kind of soapy... not the explosion of hops that I was hoping for. To me, it seems like there is just not enough hops, and as it is, this comes off as a good IPA to ease someone in to the style.

12oz bottle. Pours a crystal clear, pale golden body with a finger-width, foamy, white head that dissipates slowly and leaves a lot of nice lacing. Aroma is caramel and sweet, piney citrus. Same flavor with some honey in there as well. Impressive balance with lots of nice, soft caramels and easy on the palate piney hops. Slightly dry with a moderate bitter finish. Not as dry as some more intense IPAs. Palate is medium bodied and very quaffable. Overall, a nice, well balanced IPA. Very drinkable and a great session IPA.