Climax India Pale Ale

Brewed by Climax Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Roselle Park, New Jersey USA

on tap-pours an offwhite head that laces with amber/orange color. Aroma is hops then malty. Taste follows with the hops being less dominant than most IPA’s, a little bite.

A unique IPA in that it kind of tasted like someone put a piece of toast with marmalade in a blender and then made me drink it - yea, there were hops, but barely enough to get my palate to notice - nice bready, fruity character, though, so I can’t really fault the beer - it was quite drinkable - like a good, british-style session ESB.

Pours a clear amber color with a thin white head. Weak aroma of hops. Very unpleasant flavor of hops and malt with a bitter finish, it feels definitely infected. The body is light with low carbonation. Eesh.

The Lure:
Heavy on the butterscotch and caramel, the sweet and fat maltiness gets on your nerves quickly. Peach syrup participates in the trouncing of the hops. These drafts appear to be variable.

The Festivities:
Citrusy hops are bright through the caramel, which actually works well here, never getting cloying. A round mouthfeel is also created by the ample malt, leading to appreciable hop bitterness. A malty change of pace for the style.

Transcendence:
Getting the wrong order.

Draft at Barcade. Diminishing white head covers the hazy amber body. Typical climax well put front-row maltiness pairs along gently with the pungent sprucey, herbal and slightly citrusy hops. Excellent all around balance, well displayed elements. Soft light body, airy, salty and particularly dry all while keeping the acidity at the lowest level. Good stuff.

My draft poured flat with a reddish body. Flavor was a mild fruit bitterness with a clean malt backbone. Climax had a bad start out of the gate (flat) and never recovered for me.

Tap @ Barcade. Gold color with a small head and tons of lacing. Floral and citrus aromas are everywhere. Taste has a somewhat sweet lilac flavor and the hops are somewhat sour. Almost tastes like a SweetTart. Not bad though.

Draught at Spuyten Duyvil, New York. Dark amber. Chocolatey, piney Cascade nose. Flavour is not as pronounced and brings smallish notes of cocoa and orange peel. The finishing bitterness would have been balance if not for the dry paperiness. Light bodied.