Elk Rock Wapati IPA

Brewed by Portland Brewing Company (Pyramid)
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Portland, Oregon USA

lovely pine hop aroma, whiff of pineapple. Pours a amber-copper brown. Not as hoppy as expected. Sweet pineapple in the background. Thin palate.

bottle 12 oz. Clear golden/amber w good carb & large off white head, fair lace. Aroma is semi sweet lt/med roast malt, somewhat floral hops & grapefruit. Flavor is the same with a decent hop flavor & bitterness on the finish. Some hop resin and piney spiciness in the mix. I like this IPA even though it’s just into medium bodied. I think the flavors are fresh and clean and the balance is good. It’s an IPA I enjoy cold in the summer. Stock up when it’s on sale for $5.99/6. 5/23/07 This isn’t very good to me now. Me or it changed I don’t know which. It has a rancid lubricant flavor and aroma that is now putting it on the don’t list.

Bright amber colour. Light stewed peach sort of hop note. A bit light and peachy flavour. Well-balanced, perhaps a little too much so for a beer calling itself IPA.

I liked this beer. Good hops and malt flavors. My beer held a nice head to the glass bottom. Nice color and aroma. Drank the whole 6 pack with dinner.

Bottled. Looks dull: clear golden with no head. Light grapefruit aroma. Sweetish and juicy with clean rounded mouthfeel and plenty of crystal malt. Medium bitterness.

Clear golden/orange with a small off-white head. Malty sweetness and some hop presence in the nose. Flavour is quite hoppy with a nice malt backbone. Bitter finish. Not great but a decent example of an IPA.

From the bottle.

Pours amber-orange with a reasonable head.

The dry-hopped aroma is a great big juicy profile of grapefruit hops, and it leaves my mouth watering for that first sip. But the first sip is a considerable disappointment. It doesn’t taste bad, per se, it simply doesn’t taste as much as one would hope. The flavor is a slightly weak, slightly grassy facsimile of the serious PacNW IPA that I was expecting given the aroma. Similarly, the palate was a bit thin and watery.

It’s not a bad beer, and I enjoyed drinking it down with dinner, without ever a thought of visiting the drain. It’s just not a good rendition of a Pac NW IPA and in a place where I’m surrounded by great Pac NW IPAs, there’s little reason for revisiting this one in the near future.

(12 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with Larry Pitonka, thanks André!) No surprises with this straightforward IPA. It’s hoppy and somewhat malty initially, quickly turning very floral and moderately bitter, somewhat fruity, and then fairly citrusy on the back end with a long, bitter, slightly harsh finish. Slight metallic flavor pops up in the finish on occasion too, but isn’t strong enough to really be a factor. Hoppy, but also somewhat grainy nose doesn’t really reflect the general flavor traits. Medium bodied, fairly crisp and cleansing on the palate, with a lively carbonation. Golden amber body shows only a slight haze, so the small and slowly-rising carbonation bubbles are readily visible. Small, off-white head settles to a wide ring, leaving no lacing behind for my viewing pleasure. All too ordinary, perhaps a bit unbalanced for my taste, and just not grabbing me in any way.