Breckenridge 471 Small Batch IPA

Brewed by Breckenridge Brewery
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Denver, Colorado USA

The folks at Purvs in Peckville, PA, talked me into sampling a Breck beer despite my initial experiences and this one has a nice dark malty wheat and hoppy blend. The aroma has an odd perfume like cleaner thing going on and I was afraid I would be disappointed but the beer delivered a pleasant blend of flavors. It does seem a bit light colored and malty for a double IPA. But the hoppy blast makes itself known in the aftertaste more than it does in the in initial sip. Strong hints of vanilla arise there as well.

Pour was a dark golden color with a creamy white head. Some lacing on the glass. Aroma of hops. Taste is also hoppy with a good amout of malt present. Much more malt than other IIPAs. Overall, this doesn’t seem like an IIPA to me, maybe more like a pale ale. Needless to say, alcohol well hidden and hops are not overpowering.

12 oz bottle. This wasnt bad. Poured reddish amber body. The aroma was of arm pits - no joke. Very strange aroma. The taste is grapefruit and hops.

Breckenridge has been sighted in local Philadelphia beer distributors, and Small Batch IPA was my first taste from the brewery. Smooth 2XIPA, alcohol is blended well with English hops and sweet malts. Bottle had a jazzy painted label, but beer poured flat amber. Now that Breckenridge is in my area I’ll try more of their line.

Hmmm...A "small batch" IPA that I’m just about the last person on Ratebeer to try. Ok...

Well, I’m somewhat relieved to learn that it’s 9.2%. I had a couple of pints on tap at the Denver airport today (some test-marketing thing, the bartender told me) and I could certainly feel their effects. (I chalked it up to 5000 ft elevation and no dinner.)

On to the beer. Well, one good thing I can say is that the alcohol was pretty well hidden. I would have called it at about 7-7.5%. It’s got a decent fuggles hop profile; the rest is sort of hanging out in the background; earthy flavors, quite sweet (brown sugar, maybe even a bit of plum and mango), quite restrained in the overall hop profile, but plenty pleasant to drink, intriguingly divergent from San Diego stylings, and certainly a good find for an airport bar.

Not a bad IPA as far as everything goes. Good hoppy aroma, decent pour and finish.

This copper/rust colored beer poured a 3/4" dense head that slowly dissipated. The nose was filled with dry, hoppy aromas of grapefuit and pine followed by pumpkin and a bit of spice. In the mouth the hops continue to shine in this medium-bodied beer with good palate presence. The midpalate has some wonderful balancing sweetness to cut through the dryness of the hops, though the dryness does show on the finish. Overall, this is a classic Imperial IPA with good balance, weight and length.

Pours a beautiful amber with a nice frothy head. Aroma is fruity hops and malty. Flavors are pine and apple and pear with a deliciously long bitter finish. Not too astringent. Alcohol is well-hidden. A lot to take at once, but I would buy this again. Quite tasty.