Birdsview IPA

Brewed by Birdsview Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Birdsview, Washington USA

Date: September 05, 2009
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub
Appearance: clear copper, fine white head, drippy lace
Aroma: sweet crystal malt aroma, floral and citrus hops
Flavor: huge buttery caramel malt flavor, light balancing hops, just a hint of bitterness breaks through the dyactyl sweetness
Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 4/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 9/20
Rating: 2.6/5.0
Drinkability: 5/10
Score: ** /4

On draught at the brewpub in Birdsview, Washington. Pours a clear golden amber brew with a thick white head that has some excellent retention and sticky lacing. Aroma of fruity apple/pear character, multi-grain malt, a touch of toffee and flowery hops. Taste is medium bodied, slightly metallic with a malty and fruity flavor. Finish is semi-sweet that quickly disappears with very little bitterness. For an IPA I was expecting some high hop presence, it was missing. I’ll blame the hop shortage for this beer’s missing character and willing to try again when the hops return.

On tap at the brewpub. Pours a cloudy dark golden color, with a medium white head. The aroma is lacking with a hint of malt and grassy hops. Light to medium bodied, with mild sweet malt and toffee flavors up front and grassy hops in the finish. This one is lacking in any substance.

Draft at the brewpub. Crystal clear medium-darkish amber. Not much head or lace. Mild, sweet, almost grassy nose. Soft, semi-light body. Sweet and grassy, almost sugary mid-palate. Mild finish.
Could do with more boldness across the board here for my own taste, but these guys know exactly where they want this beer to land. That happens to be as an understated and sweet beer that’s named as an IPA. I might call it BPA after the brewery, or VPA, or something, just to set it apart a little bit for first-time drinkers. But it’s a great little beer.

Pacific Northwest Vacation 2007

8/21/2007: I didn’t care for the seasonal <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/birdsview-cascad Cascade Pale Ale very much, but the bartender suggested/insisted that I try the Birdsview IPA. However, the regular IPA turned out to be very much like the Cascade Pale Ale... The regular Birdsview IPA is deep golden brown in color and murky. It has a large, dense, creamy ivory head and a medium body. The aroma and flavor have some citrus as well as toffee malt and brown sugar. Like the Birdsview Cascade Pale Ale, this beer did not really seem that well-balanced. Overall, the regular Birdsview IPA was slightly better than the Birdsview Cascade Pale Ale, but unfortunately it still really wasn’t very good!

Draught sample at the Birdsview Brewing Company in Birdsview, Washington. Rating #4 for this beer...

On draught at the brewery. Aroma is sweet malt forward with caramel and earthy hop tones. Appearance is light gold with a solid off-white head. Flavor is a blend of bittering and sweet malt forward followed by earthy hops, but bittering is somewhat low for the style. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium carb texture, slightly creamy with a faint bittersweet aftertaste. Overall, it seems to be to style, but low on the IBUs for a PNW micro. Still, balance is good and it’s very easy drinking.

Hazy and lightly amber colour with nice head. Citrus hops with a little pine note. Clean and fresh and well balanced. A little thin but otherwise quite nice.

Very dark straw colour and quite cloudy. Big fresh grain aroma. There’s citrusy hop but it’s almost lost in that aroma. Light bitterness, light hops, big fresh grains. Those get coarser and thinner towards the end and without a rousing flourish of hop it doesn’t have that "moreish" quality that is mandatory of a PNW IPA.