Cricket Hill Hopnotic IPA

Brewed by Cricket Hill Brewing Co.
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Fairfield, New Jersey USA

Pretty bland all in all. Watery feel and a malty sweetness. Not a lot of hop bite though. About average.

Overall it’s a good beer, but fails as an IPA. Doesn’t have the grassy, hoppy aroma that I’ve come to expect from other IPAs. Pours a cloudy pale yellow, small white head. Lightly citrus taste that lacks a hoppy punch. It’s really not a bad beer, easy to drink and tastes good, but not a good IPA.

THOUGHTS: I was at a store where this was one of the few beers I hadn’t tried yet, so I picked up a six pack. I wish I would have picked something I already knew I likes. Not a great beer and a pretty weak IPA. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a slightly hazy, light to medium orange with a small, off-white head that mostly diminished. There wasn’t much of an aroma for an IPA. There was light pine, grapefruit and orange hops and some light sweaty yeast notes. It wasn’t bad, just nearly nonexistent. The initial flavor was lightly sweet, acidic and bitter; while the finish was light to moderately sweet and moderately acidic and bitter with an average to long duration. There was a little sweet malt, then lots of pine, orange and grapefruit hops, whose flavors were overwhelmed by straight up metallic bitterness instead of the flavors of the hops. The light to medium body was dry with tingly carbonation and a metallic finish.

Bottle: Poured a golden orange color with not much head. The aroma was of pine and hops. The flavor was very bitter with a slight citrus taste. It was good, but not great.

12 oz bottle, pours a deep golden color with minimal head. Aroma was fresh and hoppy and taste was pleasantly bitter. Palate was smooth and refreshing. Crisp aftertaste. Nothing too out of the ordinary but overall a good bet.

12oz bonus, not sure who from. Pour yellow orange with a 3 finger head. Nose light hops. Tase is a big old ehh. not anything to write home about. As my gf cyn said it doesn’t taste like anything.

Thanks to jcwattsrugger for this one. Straw gold pour with white head. Very light hops aroma. Flavor was a bit papery and bitter. Thin and watery. Barely average IPA but very drinkable.

Bottle. Very bready herbal hop aroma, light pepper and far less C-hop than expected. Orange, slightly gradient body with a light beige head. Taste is nicely bitter and hoppy, very bready with no sign of resin. Citrus performs well in the backup role, with light floral/herbal and pepper notes way in the bg. MartinT isolates perfectly an elusive but attractive component - "soapy gooseberries." Aftertaste is reasonably dry and bready. The citrus here is rare in IPA’s - it’s the rare type reminiscent of very natural, pulpy grapefruit - not a cloying orange soft drink. Medium, quenching body. Simple, but excellent session IPA.