Fish Tale Organic India Pale Ale

Brewed by Fish Brewing Company/Leavenworth Beers
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Olympia, Washington USA

Pours with a brilliantly clear, reddish copper color that is topped by a frothy, light tan colored head that is initially two-fingers thick. The aroma is nicely hoppy with notes of pine and grapefruit being prominent. Sweet orange aromatics are noticeable as well, which rounds out the dominant fruity aromatic notes.

The beer is creamy with a nice orange note, the combination makes me think of an orange cream soda. There is enough malt sweetness here to accentuate the fruit flavors, but not quite enough to drown out the solid sharp pine-like notes. A solid bitterness is in the finish that lingers on with a sharp citrus character.

This beer is pretty darn tasty, I wasn’t expecting it to be quite so good. It is perhaps a bit simplistic in its hop leaning, but it is after all an IPA. Hop flavored with a solid bitterness and just enough malt to accentuate the fruit aspects of the hops.

<font size=-4>Purchased: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Liquors, Tucson, AZ<font size=-1>

Bottle, Kona, Hawaii, Dec 2005. Head is initially average sized, frothy, white, mostly lasting. Body is light amber. Aroma is lightly malty (toasted grain), lightly to moderately hoppy (grapefruit, resin). Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, moderately acidic, moderately bitter. Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation. Eh, not my bag; simple harsh hop aroma, citric/biting in the mouth. Will happily drink the organic amber or pale ale, but not this.

Cloudy pale golden pour mounted by a thin white head. Light biscuity nose is cerealic and pleasantly malty for an ipa. The hop kick procures a lot of dryness, feeling almost ashey and the dry yeastiness accentuated the feel, while zesty orangey hops contribute considerable citric character. Acetaldehyde, lemon, flour, orange flavours, all glued together making a rather original IPA that might be a little too yeasty and not so confident in its hop foundation. Smooth carbonation, light body.

Bottle shared with the usual suspects - courtesy of R. I must’ve had a bad bottle last time I had this, as I gave it a 2.2, and it was much better this time around. Pours a light golden with a tiny head. Aroma is hoppy and fruity - citrus, herbs, peach & apricot. Crisp, hoppy flavour with lots of citrus and spruce, and a soft fruity background.

Re-rate, sampled on Canada Day, courtesy of R, obviously a fresher bottle than my previous sampling. Lovely hoppy aroma, lemon, sweet. Yellow, small white head. Nice IPA taste - lots of citrus hops. Medium body. A little sweeter than some others in this style. Nice long linger. A solid IPA without all of the weird elements of my previous tasting. Original 5/3/6/3/12 Bottle shared with Jerc, GregClow, Hogtown Harry, and Blankboy, my bottle. Hazy, dark yellow, small white head. Cow shit hops. I’m not kidding, that’s what it smelled like. Odd aroma to say the least. Decent hop taste, bitterness really hits the roof of your mouth, grainy. Weird weird beer, but ok in the end.

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry, GregClow, jerc & tupalev -- courtesy of tupalev. Pours a cloudy golden yellow with a small diminishing white head. Aroma of caramel malt and unique hops, apparently called Pacific Gem -- my fellow raters did not much care for it but I liked it. Slightly sweet flavour’s also unique and quite hoppy. Medium bodied. Based on some of the ratings for this beer it seems Pacific Gem hops are an acquired taste, I like them. Not a homerun or anything but a nice easy to drink IPA.

Golden color out of the bottle with a thin white head and a floral hop nose and a hint of soap. Flavors of raw grain maltiness, orange peel, caramel sweetness and a bitter grassy finish. I had fresh hop burps for quite awhile after finishing this. Being organic doesn’t seem to alter the flavor.

Bottle (341ml). re-rated July 1, 2006 (original rating 3/3/4/2/9=2.1 - must have been a bad bottle). Cloudy pale orange, decent white head. Sharp but not overpowering resiny/piney hops with a sweet juicy malt backing. Tastes like it smells, nice fresh hops, not too strong - maybe a touch soapy. Average body, lightly astringent, nicely carbonated - pretty nice, that other bottle must have been badly off.