Estes Park Renegade

Brewed by Estes Park Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Estes Park, Colorado USA

12 oz. bottle into tulip glass. Purchased at some grocery store in Brookfield, WI sometime in 2004. Is it just me, or does the wolf on the label look not at all like a "renegade"? He looks very relaxed and slightly confused, like he’s totally happy being part of the pack. Anyway... Floral and grapefruit hops on the nose are blended with some bready malts, a nice balance. Deep, transluscent red in the glass. Acrid and a bit flat/metallic, the beer seemed characterless at first (I think it was perhaps too cold). As it warms, becomes more like Great Divide Titan. Malts provide body and a nutty flavor, finish is grapefruit acidic and bitter on a nice level. Solid IPA.

Nice dark color with huge chunky sediment floating throughout, Very nice hop aroma with solid citrus rind. Strong and heavy hop flavor with citrusy undertones. Very full bodied.

Barrel Draught from the jug at the GABF, Colorado Convention Center 29/09/2005 Golden coloured and very hoppy. Crisp on the palate with a bitter lasting finish.

Bottle. Clear red-brown body with a nicely foamy medium tan head. Quite the looker! Bright, zesty PNW-hop aroma: sharp grapefruit rind and resin over grahm cracker. Grapefruit rind and stem hops foward in the flavor with a basic dry caramel malt in the background. Average mouthfeel. Wet bark-tart, grapefruit flesh finish. A pleasant find from Brennan’s!

12 oz bottle. Pours a murky tea color (much darker than most IPAs) with lots of suspended sediment. There’s not much head - it takes a pretty vigorous pour to coax a thin and bubbly light tan head, that quickly goes to a thin collar which leaves some lacing.

The aroma is piney, fruity hops and caramel. It smells somewhat like Hog Heaven, but a little more subdued. Some dough comes out as it warms.

The flavor is sweet and fruity (slightly sour apple) caramel malts leading to a good sized, lingering bitter hop finish. It is medium bodied and pretty watery.

Overall, a decent IPA. The sourness and watery body bring it down a bit. Still, I think it is one of Estes Park’s better offerings. I did like it better on tap at the brewery.

on tap-pours a tan head, golden brown color. Aroma-good hops. Taste is hoppy. Laces nicely.

Poured dark mahogany color with a smaller sized off white head. Lots of large floaters. Aromas of light grapefruit and even lighter pine. Tastes of the same with caramel malts. Thin and somewhat watery body. Let down, especially since the label says it was a ’93 GABF Gold Medal IPA winner.

Pours to a really dark mahogany body. Very creamy tan head. The aroma is very nice. Citrus hops, pine hops, floral hops. The flavor is roasted citrus hops. I get mostly chinook hops. The palate is bitter and watery. No mouth feel during swallow. There’s a chalkyness to it.