Dragonmead Broken Paddle Indian Pale Ale

Brewed by Dragonmead Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Warren, Michigan USA

Big thanks to my sister Lori for sending down a growler of this. My sister ROCKS! Pours copper with gold edges and adequate off white head. The aroma has spicy hops, a thin layer of orange hard candy, earthiness and some malty sweetness. The aroma comes together creating a sense of dirty celery and citrus (?). The taste starts with spicy hops running from flavor to bitter hoppy spiciness. It then begins to pick up earthiness and malt sweetness. By midway notes of sweet orange flavored hard candy are noticed and carries this a bit oddly into the finish. A typical off kilter unusual brew from Dragonmead.

tap at Dragonmead. Medium golden color, mild to med bitterness. Leafy hops. Light session brew. poor IPA

On tap at brewery. Pours hazy golden orange with white head. Aroma is dominated with citrus and hops with some pine and caramel malt. Flavor is bitter with hops and has some nice citrus, pine and caramel malt. Decent sessionable IPA. Nothing great but drinkable.

This beer is not hoppy enough for my expectations of what an IPA should be. It’s not bad, just not what I was hoping for. With nearly all of Dragonmead’s pints costing over $5.00, I’m not going there much anymore.

First off let me say that I am disapointed by Dragonmeads brews at the present. I have gotten the impression that with the prices of their ingredients going sky high, they have cut back on the quantity of their ingredients in their brews. The end result is much weaker than usual brews. The aromas and flavors all appeared weak IMHO. With that said, on to the rating. This draft brew from the brewery poured a large sized head of foamy finely sized white colored bubbles that were long lasting and left behind a transparent softly carbonated light orange brown colored body and an excellent lacing. The almost non-existant aroma was mild hop. thin semi-flat . The mild flavor contained notes of mild hops. Not one that I would likely buy again.

(Sampler @ Dragonmead Brewery, Warren, MI): Pours a brown, darker color, small white head. Somewhat hoppy aroma, but more sweet, weakish. Bitter dry almost acidic nutty taste. Bitter. Unbalanced.

Growler filled 2 days prior. Poured a medium and slightly hazy orange color with an averaged sized off white head. Aromas of caramel, floral and light wet grass. Tastes of caramel, bready, and lighter hoppiness. Hops are not as strong as I would prefer for an IPA.

Pours a hazy golden color, with a thin topping of white foam. Spotty lacing. Mildly hoppy aroma. Slightly on the thin side, this is more of an American pale ale than an American IPA. Hoppier than a British IPA for sure, but a bit on the mild side for me. Maltiness was mild too, tasty and biscuity, but mild. Light corbonation, body on the lighter side. Clean and drinkable.