Bison IPA Single Hop Series - Amarillo

Brewed by Bison Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Berkeley, California USA

Name: IPA - Amarello
Date: 08/17/2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party

clear copper, wispy white head, specks of lace, sweet fruity aroma, light body, lots of fruity malt flavor, touch of crystal sweetness, lots of bitterness comes in and takes over,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 11/20
Rating: 3.1/5.0
Drinkability: 6/10
Score: *4

22oz bottle. Poured a medium and clear amber color with an averaged sized head. Aromas citrus and some tangerines. Tastes of citrus - oranges and grapefruits, and some pine. Had a lighter maltiness to it as well. Lightly bitter. If I had this blind, I would have guessed this was a Pale Ale.

Pours a transparent orange amber with a thin wispy-lacing white head. Aroma of peppery, dry, earthy caraway hops with a hint of caramel malt. Body starts lightly sweet and very bitter, with some resiny earthy, bittering hop presence toward a peppery finish. I don’t know if I’m a big fan of single hop Amarillo IPAs.

Pours amber with a white head. Smells of citrus and floral. Tastes of sweet citrus with some wildflower hints and a more restrained bitterness than the others in this series. Nice spicy finish.

Bottle. Amber beer with a cream-colored head. Sweet, fruity (orange/tropical) hop aroma. Red grapefruit, orange, tropical fruit flavor with backing caramel. Lingering grapefruit and pine. Medium body. Decent/good bitterness. Nice.

Bomber pours clear copper with modest frothy off white head. The aroma is mild with sweet tangelo citrus, malt sweetness, a touch of earthiness and hinting toward organic malt cardboard. The taste is tangelo hops mixing with a pulse of malt sweetness making it taste sweet and citrusy right off. Toward midway I get increasing hop bitterness with pine hops and hop spiciness. The malt sweetness in the background balances this brew out nicely and only shows hints at the organic malt notes I consider off and distracting. But since the organic malt twang is so light it is not a problem. It ends with delicious citrus hop bitterness.

Pours with a brilliantly clear, dark gold tinted, full copper color. It is topped by an initially fat-one-finger thick, pale tan colored head that leaves a touch of lacing on the sides of the glass. The aroma is quite fruity with notes of freshly zested grapefruit, tangelo, bergamot and lychee. There is also a backdrop of lightly herbal, slightly greenish menthol and pine noticeable in the aroma. For being all Amarillo, this has a lot more herbal / pine notes than I would have expected; I suspect this years crop of Amarillo is quite a bit different than in years past.

Lightly sweet, with a biting hop bitterness that starts as the beer first hits the tongue and actual becomes more bitter as the beer passes through the mouth. Finally the bitterness lingers on in the mouth after the beer has left with a signature, green-astringency reminiscent of menthol and pine needles. A fair amount of citrus character. Fairly light and easy drinking, but it has just enough body to carry some of the citrus hop flavors. Notes of orange zest, grapefruit and tangelo are all quite noticeable, but they never obtain that smoothness that is typical of Amarillo. Really the herbal character is just too prominent here; green, dank and almost hemp like; it really reminds me a bit of Summit hops.

I am quite disappointed in the Amarillo character of this beer; I am afraid it is a reflection of the quality of this years (really last years crop) hop harvest. I really hope that it turns out better next year. This is an enjoyable IPA, it is just that I was so ready for a signature Amarillo character and this just doesn’t have that.

22 ounce bottle in the series of single hopped Bison IPAs--Poured darker than the others in the series. A rich, clouded amber body with a fluffy white head. Nose of piny, resinous hops. Bitter and dry in the smell alone. Flavor not as potent as nose might lead one to believe. Grapefruit pine stereotype is true here. Somewhat chalky, bitterness-laden and creamy caramel finish. Pretty good, but not the best single hopped IPA in the series.