Butte Creek Organic India Pale Ale

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

Looks promising, but the smell is rather weak with a light sprucey aroma. First taste is a bit cloying...quite a bit sweeter than is necessary. Decent hop flavor, with a bit of maltiness there, but nothing great jumps out. Has a slight alcohol bite that skirts the edges. If this were an amber or an APA, I might consider it pretty good, but as an IPA, it doesnt impress me. Mostly a mixed up and unbalanced beer, yet at the same time the more I drink it, the more I think its not too bad.This rating is a lot of babble.

Bottle. Why is it that organic beers almost always suck? I’m thinking this as I pour this one out and hoping for the best. The body is kind of a reddish copper and has a fizzy/sudsy head that is thin, but already starts to cling to the side of the glass. Aromas are OK, but nothing spectacular. A bit of caramel with citrus and floral hops. Flavor is actually OK... not outstanding, and there is not enough hops for me to get excited about this as an IPA, but if this were a hoppy amber or something, I’d be mostly impressed. It has a very pleasant caramel malt body with some hops highlights that come through strongly at times, but never enough to be considered in control of the show. Still, this is a good step in the right direction for the organic beer market.

I’m surprised by the mediocre ratings this been has received, as I enjoyed my bottle very much. Lovely color and a nice head, good nose, and pleasant flavors. The only complaint I have is that the finish was short and this wasn’t all that complex, but it was generally very good. To each his own, I suppose.

bottle thanks to weeHeavySD. poured amber with a thin off white head. aroma of caramel, fruity notes, and slight pine. flavor is caramel, pine, and floral. light body and high carbonation.

Bottle thanks to ericandersnavy. Pours a nice clear amber with off-white head. Aroma of sweet caramel and piney hops. Flavor of light sweet caramel, pine hops, dirt, nice hoppy bitter. Mouth feel is medium body with high carbonation, slightly watery. Over all, good shit!

12 oz bottle. Pours a clear copper body with a small tight bubbled beige head. The hops are fairly muted on the nose, more caramel and toasted malt than the lightly piny hoppiness. There’s a fair amount of bitterness to it though, but it still doesn’t stand up well against the caramel and slightly grainy malt of its base. There’s a bit of a weird interaction with the hops and malt on the finish that makes it actually taste a bit ashy which I’m not digging too much. Lighter bodied with soft fizzy carbonation. Overall, I think they’re just pushing the organic gimmick rather than making a good beer here.

12 oz bottle poured into a pint glass. Golden color with a slight amber tint. Frothy but ultimately modest off-white head leaves a dusting of lace. Biscuity malt aroma with some piney hops. Flavor is resinous and somewhat acrid hops with a very neutral malt background. Astringent with medium bitterness. Thinnish body, carbonation a bit flat. Nothing special here.

Bottle. Pours a clear dark gold/light amber with a one finger off-white head that leaves spotty lacing. The nose is malt and really faint floral hops. The taste is malt, earthy hops in the middle followed by a decent bitter pine finish. Lighter mouthfeel. Decent taste. A better aroma and better balance would make this a much better IPA.