BluCreek Zen IPA

BluCreek Brewing Company
Brewed at Sand Creek Brewing Co. (Pioneer/Wisconsin Brewing Co.)
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Madison, Wisconsin USA

12oz bottle courtesy of mother in law. Wow not your standard ipa aroma wheat and sweet caramel. Murky orange maybe peach body color with no head. Flavor had some malt backbone but really more like a bitter spiceed pils. Corn and whaet flavor not exactaly what I thought would ofbeen in this bottle.

Milky cloudy graham yellow with a thin off white slowly dissipating head. Aroma of herbal hops, tea, citrus hops and sugar. Taste of herbal hops, grapefruit, lemon and tea, Astringent and acidic with a grainy finish. The tea is just wrong here… I know that’s what they were aiming for but it’s all wrong.

12oz bottle. Pours murky, light brown with a fizzy white head that fades quick. Smells okay but I had to check the other reviews cuz it looked funny. Smells very earthy hoppy with some earthy malts, not sweet some iced tea maybe. Tastes very malty and earthy with a bit of earthy hop bitterness and a green tea finish. Medium body, coats the mouth a bit, ok carbonation.

Alright, I admit it: I bought this one primarily because of the "green tea" gimmickry and took a chance on it. It pours a thick, opaque, nutty-brown-colored and is SUPER foamy (it took me nearly 20 minutes to get the whole bottle poured into my glass). It appeared to be highly carbonated, as one might guess. The smell is not unpleasant, but not that of a normal IPA: nutty and malty with perhaps only a hint of hops. In the mouth it’s thick and a little citrusy, while the hops are more apparent at the finish. I can MAYBE sense some green tea at the finish as well but it’s hard to tell--it’s kind of citrusy as well. Overall, I can see why this would get such an average low rating while judging it as an IPA, because it really doesn’t seem like one at all. HOWEVER, it IS quite an interesting concoction and not at all horrible. Thus, I won’t completely fail it and am glad I tried it. It seems sort of the same situation as Dogfish Head’s Midas Touch. It’s hard to compare it to other brews.

Pours a murky, copper/orange/brown, with a fizzy body, but almost no head despite this - it kind of looks like carbonated green tea, ironically enough - a bit of bready malt in the aroma, with some herbal hops, chalky character, and honey sweetness - the green tea is fairly apparent in the flavor, even more so than the hops - some doughy british maltiness and dry mineral character arrive later - it tastes like someone dropped a shot of green tea into an english bitter - it’s original, but not very good.

pour is hazed orangey amber with a huge bubbled explosive almost, off white head...smell is faintly herbal and grassy...explosive fizzy carbonation...taste is lightly sweet with hints of grass and pine....not very good...

Cloudy with a lot of suspended yeast. Very unusual for an IPA. Difficult to find aroma of yeast with even more difficult to find IPA aromas. Flavors are unique with the green tea adding distinct dry bitterness that differs from that of the hop. There is orange and lemon aid. This is a dry beer. Very little carbonation. Seemed to numb the tongue like before dental work. A very different kind of beer. Fun to sample.

12 oz bottle: Pours like a cloudy iced tea with a thin white cap that lets you know this indeed beer. The hops are soft in the nose, adding a citrusy zip to the heavy tea notes. The body is thick with little carbonation. The tea takes over everythings else, letting a touch of sweet caramel and orangey hops come through. The bitterness is too low for the style, making this more of a sweet tea than anything else. I commend the brewer for trying something new. It is interesting, but not something I would drink often.