Butte Creek Fresh Hop Organic India Pale Ale

Brewed by Butte Creek Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Chico, California USA

Compared to other harvests, this one is very malty. And yet, it’s beautiful. Very smooth on the palate and a well-ballanced hop-to-malt flavor. If it weren’t a harvest it might be too malty but this one is really well calculated.

aroma of caramel, butter, light hops. clear amber, not much head, expands in the mouth with hop aroma, a surprising density to the liquid. the malt keens against the hop waves, just enough for balance with the bitter edge, I think almost of scotch, w/ some peatishness that may reflect the fresh hops, their resin. unsettled finish.

~Pours a nice amber colour with a creamy off white- yellowish head. Good lacing. ~ Has a nice hop scent. A bit faint, but nice smelling. ~Balanced amount of grassy hops. Hops definetly present, but not too overpowering. ~Palate is creamy and smooth. Bitter hop aftertaste quickly dissappears. ~ This is a very well balanced beer. Not much of a "wow" factor but its extremely easy to drink. Definetly one I’ll have to get again.

Bomber courtesy of Degarth. Pours orange-ish copper clear with tan head and decent lacing. Pretty big aroma initially but hard to pin down the type of hops. Seems to be pine hops mixed with roasty malts. Soon I notice some green hops mixed with pine hops and lightly roasted maltiness. The taste is very similar to the nose with pine hop bitterness and a bolt of green/wet like hops as well along with sweeter lightly roasted malts leaning into caramel. The malts also seem roasty and toasty in a mild sweet maltiness sort of way. The hop bitterness stays even into the finish. Pretty darn tasty without any of the standard organic stale malt influence that I’ve come accustom to associating with organic type beers. Maybe all the hops cover up or limit the staleness.

Amber coloured, clear beer, nice thick ,semi-creamy lite tan head. Hoppy aroma but backed up by toffeeish maltiness, quite pleasing. Pretty balanced taste with the creamy soft toffee malts blending well with a floral hoppiness, the hops do take over as expected near the end and leave a pleasant after taste. Very nice on the palate, thick and creamy for the style. Overall a nice drinkable IPA.

Thanks to SamuraiArtist for forwarding this one. My love of the fresh hop style right now is going to result in a higher rating here. Clear brown color with a faint red hue. Grass and straw aroma. Flavor is very similar and dominated by the fresh hops. Light body that could use a little more back bone but for a straight IPA, I’ll give it a chance. The hops make this one seem bigger than I think it really is.

Draft at O’Brien’s. Called Sustainable Harvest. Aromas were sweet, with a sweet start on the flavor. Finished much greener with pine. Not bad.

Bomber. Nicely balanced aroma of floral hop and caramel malt. Red tinged amber color with a beige head that looks decent. Thin to medium body with fizzy/creamy carbonation. The flavor starts roasted brown malty, and the floral hop is not quite enough to wholly balance it. The hop is a bit sharp though, and it builds in the mouth, so by the finish it is holding it’s own. After awhile there does seem to be a grapefruit note. Pretty good ale. I don’t think they skimped on ingredients.