El Toro IPA

Brewed by El Toro Brewing Co.
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Morgan Hill, California USA

Bottle: Nice ruddy amber color with an amazingly big, frothy white head and great lacing. Lots of citrus and floral hops in both the aroma and taste. There is also a malty sweetness that compliments the citrus and earthiness - along with a lot of hops.

In trade from odeed. Pours a cloudy golden brew with a very nice looking off white foamy head. Nose is citrusy hops, you can almost sense a bit of bitterness in the aroma itself. There is also some fruity notes,maybe something like a kiwi or mango.NIce. Taste was very much like what I was expecting after smelling it for a while. The mild bitterness on the palate was very nice but I still can’t place the fruit notes.

12 oz bottle. Brew 1076. Just hazed cantaloupe with an off-white head; some stays. Lace rings and veils. Caramelly grapefruit; hint of floral. Minimal citrus sweetness with bitterness all the way. Lemon-quinine, grapefruit pith. Cardboard drying. More bite than carb, medium light. Malts build on the tongue and help to balance.

Bottle... Cloudy amber ale with a small, creamy, white head. Incredible retention. Perfumey, earthy nose with notes of pink grapefruit and pine sap. The flavor is heavily bitter with hints of nickel. Medium-bodied with medium carbonation. Lengthy, very bitter finish. Thanks to IrishBoy for the brew!

Bottle from IrishBoy. I saved the IPA for last out of the bottles he sent me for Terrapin Moster Beers. Orange color. With a thick creamy froth of a head. Wonderful citrus, grapefruit hop aroma. A little pine sol, chemical, vinyl, earthiness as well. Strange aromas but powerful. Heavy hop bite in the finish. Mouthfeel bitterness just won’t go away. reminds me of RUINATION.

From a 12 oz. long neck bottle with a freshness date imprinted on the upper right of label. Nice appearance, poured a cloudy amberish orange with a large fluffy off-white head, good retention, that settled into a creamy lacing, small amount of ringed sticking. Aromas of grapefruit and a earthy leafiness, more pine oily than straight up pine, a light chalkiness and a grainy maltiness. Good, even carbonation and a crisp, dry, slick, smooth medium-light bodied mouthfeel. Upfront hoppy taste, grapefruit rind and an tobacco leafiness, pine oil and hop spicy, sweet grainy maltiness, a little dirty earthiness with the malts, and a dry, grainy finish with hoppy bitterness lingering in the palate. I found this IPA at Brennan’s in Madison, Wisconsin, didn’t know what to expect, but this is a good California IPA, tasty, balanced and very quaffable.

Thanks to IrishBoy for this one. Very good IPA. Pours a medium amber with a nice sized head. Aroma and flavor of mild citrus, pine, malts and hops. The bitterness sits at the back of your throat for awhile with this one. Still is pretty darn good.

Whoa - this beer has off the charts aroma, surging pine and citrus. Big, thick white head sits atop an amber body. Oh man, the bitterness is harsh in this one. Incredibly resinous to a fault. Nice malt balance, just WAY overdone. Thanks to TEVER for the sample.