BluCreek Zen IPA

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

Very cloudy gold color with a medium head. Fairly herbal aroma, mainly tea. The taste is rather bland and watery. Barely any hops at all. The tea adds a little bit of bitterness, but it does not stand out in any way. Blech.

Strange! Some hop bitterness---with the tea taste. Muddy amber appearance, which I didn’t mind. Would not buy again!

I was definitely unimpressed by this beer. It is unappealing in appearance, not differentiated in flavor, has a watery mouthfeel, and nothing that would redeem itself over these other flaws in its flavor. I would not recommend this; there are just too many other great IPAs in America. This beer comes out of the bottle murky, cloudy and dark...it looks like this nasty apricot-orange stuff my wife drinks, with not much head. Aroma was citrus-y, but not in the normal hop-bitterness way that you’d find in say an Alpha King. Rather this beer exhibits an unusual citrus-ness without bitterness. Mouthfeel is apparent before the flavor...it is quite flat. Flavor is watery, bland, not IPA-like at all, and not very satisfying. Definitely not recommended.

Pour is a hazy brown with a small tan head. Aroma is deffinalty all IPA. Very much citrus and floral hops with a some caramel malts. Flavor is where this one is different. Very herbal and so much so it takes away from the hops. Gave it a decent rating b/c it was a good attempt and it almost worked. Make the hops show up over the green tea and you got something here.

Yikes, this BluCreek lines has interesting ideas that don’t usually turn out well. Pours light copper with a rocky beige head. The aroma has light pale-ish malt, green tea and lightly spiced hops. Medium / light body with sharp carbonation. The flavor starts with minor malt and a tea-like bitterness. The finish is astringent an medicinal. The only bitterness is from the tea aspects, I can’t detect the hops in an IPA? While I drink tea on a daily basis, it doesn’t belong in my beer. Having such a strong presence in a beer is not a good thing. This was an interesting idea that really didn’t work.

12oz - Aroma is muddy wet musty malt and green tea. Pours dark hazy yeallow/brown with a small head and good lacing. Flavor matches aroma with an interesting tea aftertaste, but no hops. Not sure of bottles age. Crisp and bubbly palate. Different, but not that good.

Poured with a small head and a little lace. Very hazy not quite amber color. Tea and hop aroma with a little caramel malt aroma. More so in flavor. Thin body. Big tea finish that flops back and forth with the hops. Interesting experiment that probably could be done much better at another point.

12oz bottle acquired in trade with ughsmash (thanks!). Hmmm, I love IPAs and I love Green Tea, lets see how they play together. Poured a medium and murky / muddy orange color with an averaged sized off white head. Aromas of citrus, herbal, floral, and light pine. Tastes of green tea (yes, its definitely there), citrus, and just all around herbal. Not bitter at all. Light lacing left on the glass. The tea dominates the flavors. I found it interesting and drinkable, but would not have pegged this as an IPA. If I were to rate it as an IPA, the #s would be a little lower (since I love green tea, I’ll rate this for what it is).