Bitter Root India Pale Ale

Brewed by Bitter Root Brewing
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Hamilton, Montana USA

Tain Q Jesse! This one pours an amber honey color with a shallow, spattered, shortlived froth reducing to a silky canopy and a fluffy ring. Residual lacing is actually quite nice. The aroma is very mild with nuances of biscuits and no hops to speak of. It’s devoid of any citrus at all. Full nectar w/ ample residual effers that border on the creamy side. BR is a malt forward specimen yet balanced. It’s not sweet at all and only mildy hopped. The hops that do show are kinda crunchy. I like that about it. Other nuances of biscuits and leather. The finish is bittered nicely w/ a lingering hop tingling. Overall: very British and weak on the hop front but a very tastey brew all together.

Draught at the brewpub: Clear copper, white head, light lacing. Nose of citrusy cat/pine dry hopped character, light malts. The flavor is earthy and pronounced with hops. Nice sweet/bitter balanced a full long tangy tail.

Golden-orange color with a nice head. Smooth and creamy texture. Surprisingly complex malts -- intense toast, rich toffee and dark caramel. Some burntness and a pinch of campfire. Earthy hops with dark pine, ripened grapefruit, pear and apricot. Rock-candy sweetness lingered, as did grass. Fitting level of bitterness. Really tasty IPA with some interesting things going on. Solid malt backbone as well.

as gold as new guitar strings, so deeply yellow it's on the outskirts of orange. the head worked hard and saved it's money and so retired early, but it dotted the glass with vivid reminders of lace. perfume of oily hop petals just about over-rides any aroma of malts, but i still detect a foundation of grassy, toasted honey grains refusing to be ignored. not huge in body, my tongue is pleased but not overwhelmed, it remains free to move about the cabin. gentle carbonation is the horse, solid dry golden malts are the wagon, and the payload is a nice delivery of farm fresh hops. the finish is just moderate however, so while it can justly claim to be an india pale ale, if i were with the english army, i'd drink it right off the boat, i'm not sure if it would survive a trip into the hot subcontinent. thanx yvonne!

Clear golden with spotty lacing and good head. Floral and citrus hops in the nose. Hints of biscuit malts. Mellow floral taste leads into a bitter finish. Warm and toasty.

The Dan Journal #130. Tasted 11/8/07. 22oz bomber. Hazy with an amber golden hue. Eye Ball of off-white head. Fruity spicy piney hops. Soggy malts and a touch soapy. Medium bodied with a nice sweet and tart dichotomy. Nice balance with a good malt character. Nice hop bitterness. Tasty yet slightly dulled.

Bottled. Pours a slightly reddish golden hue. Aroma is slightly sweet with some grapefruit qualities. Somewhat thick/creamy mouthfeel. Medium bitterness with some really nice sweet/malty flavor for balance. Some lingering bitterness in the finish. Very smoothe with well balanced flavors.

(22oz bottle) Clear amber body topped by pillowy off-white head. Aroma is medium sweet, caramel, floral, light orange/grapefruit. Taste is medium sweet, orange/grapefruit, some caramel/bread. Watery light-medium body. Mild for the style (arguably the designation of English style IPA makes this something other than an IPA as used on this site), and would make a nice session beer.