Catawba Valley Firewater IPA

Brewed by Catawba Valley Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Glen Alpine, North Carolina USA

(Knoxville Brewers’ Jam). Pours cloudy honey orange with a very thin head. Aroma is zest, grapefruit, and pine. The flavor has a bit of toast, but largely silvan hops that get very bitter after the finish. Could use better balance.

Serious let down...serious. Lovely beer. Mouth moans and waters. Deep firey yellow. Golden head. Thick brew. Nose is ricey and hoppy. Bitter and dry, with a tinge of rice. Awww...MAN! This brew sucks from here on out. I dont know if it was the tap or just the beer but this tasted like crap. Bitter edge slices like a rusty cleaver and leaves me bleeding to death...gross. Grains are stale and flat. Carbonation is crazy. Unbalanced and not too good. G

Draught at 11th Southern Brewers Festival in Chattanooga. Pours copper with a thin off-white head. Yeast (dough) and fruity hop (pear, peach) aroma. Moderately heavy acidic hop rind and caramel malt flavor combination with a slowly forming sour rind aftertaste. Medium bodied and fizzy slightly creamy palate.

Draft sample at the Southern Brewers Festival (9/05). Had this after a few stouts and I think the crispness of this brew really did a good job of reviving my taste buds. Amber straw color with minimal head, hazy. Sweet malt and spicy/pine aroma. Very enjoyable flavor. Actually competed for my favorite IPA of the day. Pine and citrus orange peal hops with good malt and mineral presence. Nice body. Creamy and full with a dry bitter finish. Very nice IPA.

Draft. Amber body with not much head. Hops abound in the flavor, very punchy and floral but not enough maltiness to back it up. If you love unbridled hoppiness you’ll like this.

Draft, Barley’s Taproom, Asheville NC. Slight Floral hops on the nose along with faint maltiness. Medium body, mostly malty with a little hop bitterness, and a somewhat grassy finish. Tasted more like a Wheat or Amber. A good drinkin’ beer, but not an impressive IPA.

On draft at Barley’s. Good hop aroma, and a nice initial bitterness. The malt is kind of weak, though, and there was a lingering aftertaste that reminded me of chewing aspirin. A strange, medicinal bitterness. I was assured by a friend that wasn’t normal, and will give it another shot next time I’m in Asheville.

This is the best North Carolina Ale I’ve had to date... maybe second to the Highland Gaelic Ale. It’s on tap about everywhere in Asheville. I’m already a big fan of the IPA. This one is no exception.