Blue Frog India Pale Ale

Brewed by Blue Frog Grog and Grill
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Fairfield, California USA

Crisp deep amber coloured body with copper highlights and a very thin white head. Aroma of fresh hops, a ton of malt, caramel and a bit of metal. Medium-bodied; Strong taste of fresh floral hops up front fading to a subtle maltiness along with caramel and some cardboardie type tastes as well. Aftertaste is rather mild with actually more malt coming through than hops - but the nuggets that do come through are very floral and not so strong. Overall, a decent IPA - nothing too remarkable, and probably deserves to be in the APA category, but still good to try! I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa, California on 18-May-2009, sampled at home in Washington on 28-May-2009.

Bomber. Poured orange with thin lasting white head. Very little aroma, some citrus, a tiny bit of floral. Light flavour, moderately sweet, not full bitter like most IPAs. Lasting hop finish.

Bottle. Slighty hazy pale amber body. Off-white, fizzy head, mostly diminishing. Nice Citrusy aroma of grapefruit, orange with hints of flowers and perfume. Notes of husky grain. The flavor is lightly to moderately sweet and moderately bitter. It finishes lighlty sweet and moderately bitter and moderately acidic. The taste is maltier than the aroma which is disappointing, especially since it is not all that pleasant, especially the vegetable flavor in the finish. Medium body, smooth texture, lively carbonation. Just OK.

before my nose can get to the glass (bottle from belmont station) the hop aroma is roiling over, the citrus and pine neither clashing or blending, co-existing. a lsightly greenish light amber w/ a too quick off white head, a little flat on the tongue. flavor stay with coexistence, though the hops have the upper hand, the honey caramel never goes away. finishis tongue numbing & a little sticky.

Bottle from Bevmo: Slightly hazed honey gold color with a fizzy short lived head. Scents of malts and sweet grain are obvious detections from the nose but overall a poor attempt to increase my appetite for this ale. The flavor is bland and only allows a brief display of grassy hops and macro style fashion of malt. Aftertaste leaves behind a bit of bread and corn adjuncts with the alcohol stronger on the breath then would have been expected.

Bottle.
Appearance: Faintly hazed nutty dark orange.
Nose: Fusel burnt popcorn and olive oil covered nuts. Moderately spicy/peppery, but the infection is evident. Terrible.
Body: Medium thickness for the style, oily at times, diacetyl is obvious.
Flavor: fusel grains and sour caramel malt, no depth, goes from unremarkable and boring when cold to downright gut-wrenching when at proper serving temperature. Olive oil, truffle oil, diesel, bad bad bad.

Clear amber with a one finger white head and copious lacings. Aroma of floral hops. (the wife said it smelled like soap) Taste is bitter leather hops with a fair amount of sweet malts. I have to agree this is a middle of the road IPA but very drinkable nonetheless. The 7%abv puts it at the upper level of abv for this style. The hop character is a bit unusual for a left coast beer. Pretty decent overall.

Thanks IBrew2or3 for the share. Pours hazy yellow gold with a white head. Nose is lemon, citrus hops, and malt. Flavor is light citrusy hops with sugary lemon peel, bite and lots of sweet malt. Bite lingers as this light to medium bodied IPA goes down. Interesting.