Cape Ann Fishermans IPA

Brewed by Cape Ann Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Gloucester, Massachusetts USA

Aromas of hop and malt. Hazy mahogany color with a 3 or 4 finger head. Sweet citrus hop? Or caramel with hop? Really tasty. Medium bodied with creamy carbonation. The hop dominates, and the finish is bitter. It’s really great. 64 IBUs? Seems like more. Just good ale.

Not a bad IPA. Pours out a cloudy amber color with a nice beige head. aroma is sweet with a nice mix of hops, citrus, and grass. Flavor was the same, except for the finish. It was thin

12oz bottle. Pours cloudy brown in color with full foamy brown head. Aroma sweet and hoppy. Taste sweet, roasted malt and citrus hops with bitter finish.

Bottle from Super Saver in Pennington, NJ. Pours amber orange with a nice light beige head. Aroma of sugary malt and citrusy hops. Medium bodied and a tad over carbonated. Flavor of caramel and toast, countered by a sharp, uninteresting hoppiness that carries through to the finish. Not much residual sweetness. Finish has very strong lingering bitter tea flavor that I did not care for.

Apr. 2007 - Beer pours cloudy amber color with some head and lacing. Stinky aroma of wet cardboard and burnt orange. The flavor had some burnt sweet malts, toast, toasted fruits, burnt caramel and a wicked hop bitterness that tasted like someone had scorched my tongue when I was through. A lot of complexity, but none of the flavors seemed very good.

This is an interesting beer. I say this because it doesn’t fit within the mold that we as Americans have come to expect from our IPA’s. It is quite malty. In fact, it has a very strong roasted malt flavor that you might find in a brown. It is hoppy as one would expect but the malt balances the hoppiness in a way that makes the flavor more what I would expect from an IIPA. Aroma is sweet and smooth with hints of citrus and a strong malty character with caramel. The flavor as I said is very different from IPAs that I am used to. The finish is pleasant with some bitterness and a touch of citrus. Overall I really like this beer. I am not sure it is what an IPA should be. I am not sure that matters as it is a fine enough beer that I would drink it again and again. One thing I wonder, since I have not had many, is that does this beer represent the IPAs of the past that truly were shipped to India and were extra hopped so they would last. Some of the character of the beer is very British indeed. I like it!

Pours a dark amber brown with no head. Nose is nutty, which I find odd. Flavor is not what I am used to from an IPA. It is very earthen with wood, dirt, and caramel characteristics to it. I can’t recall getting these types of descriptions off an IPA in as long as I can recall. Feel is thick and earthy on the liquid and decent on the carbonation. Definitely drinkable. Just not the typical IPA. I even feel like it is kind of Irish Red Ale and IPA mixed together. This might not be the purest interpretation of this style, but it is definitely interesting.

Red/orange coloured with just a bit of head and lace. Aroma has some grapefruit hops with a bit of malt. Malty up front with that grapefruit hops bitterness coming through in the mid palate and ending in a decent final bitterness that ends abruptly leaving your mouth dry and thirsting for more. Pretty sold.