Flossmoor Station Ahtanumous IPA

Formerly brewed at Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Flossmoor, Illinois USA

Bomber. Pours an orange-amber with a nice tacky sticky head and cool lace. Aroma is nice and citrusy with a light spiciness to it- god resinous quality and fairly fresh. Slight pine needle coming through int he flavor, with more citrus, resin and a tacky finihs- malt is just there as a backbone- seems mostly pale with a slight sweetnes. Good bitter finish- overall still fresh.

Poured a hazy golden color with a small off-white head. big hop forward aroma with citrus and pine. Some pink grapefruit as well. The malt was almost hidden away in the aroma. Nice hop forward flavor without a bitter finish. Sweet and malty middle with grapefruit and lemon mixed in. Light to a medium body. Pine on the finish with some of it in the middle as well.

Green waxed bottle pours an orange amber with a thin lacing. Very citric hop character, pine, grapefruit with some lighter caramel malt in the back. Sweet tangy grapefruit and some light honey with a very light bittering hop profile to finish, no wonder i liked it so much.

(11/21/08) Bottle at The Map Room in Chicago. Hazy amber color with almost no head. Big citric hops aroma with grapefruit, pomelo notes, a bit of lemon and some flowers. Bitter hoppy flavor with grapefruit, some tropical fruits, light piney notes and some malty honey-ish tones. Rounded mouthfeel. A great IPA.

In short: A tasty with a solid body and a refreshing hop signature. One to enjoy in very large quantities.
How: Bottle 22oz. Purchased at the brewery by Rastacouere and consumed fresh. Tasting session with Montreal crew.
The look: Cloudy orange-blonde body topped by a small white head
In long: Pleasant hoppy nose of fresh fruits, orange mainly. Solid but quiet malt backbone of toasted white bread and cookies. Refreshing hopping with orange pulps, juicy pine-tree and such. Medium bitterness and pleasant pine-tree dryness. Soft-medium carbonation. Not a lot of caramel or other tasty malt flavours but it does provide a good foundation for the refreshing hop signature which is the main attraction here. Gets extra points for high drinkability. I really liked it. It’s bad enough that I live walking distance from Dieu Du Ciel (one of the best brewpub in North-America). It’s a good thing I’m not also walking distance from the excellent Flossmoor. That would means I have miles-long legs and I’d hate to be a freak.

Date: October 16, 2008
Mode: Bottle
Source: Trade
Appearance: muddy orange, fine white head, lots of sudsy lace
Aroma: big hop aroma on sweet crystal malt base, touch of fruityness
Body: creamy body
Flavor: big hop flavor, lots of hop bitterness is restrained by a touch of crystal sweetness, touch of citrus, lasting bitter finish
Overall: hop flavor is great but a bit over the top on bitterness for me
Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.4/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+/4

Finally I got a hold of an IPA from Flossmoor...finally! 22oz, olive waxed bottle. Poured a cloudy medium orange/deeper golden color with an averaged sized off white head. Aromas of citrus, floral, earhty and piney. Tastes of earthiness, pine and caramel. Not really bitter with a light to medium sweetness. Some lacing left on the glass.

My Bottom Line:
Expressive orangey, piney and sandy hoppiness flourishes over the polite malt cookies, culminating in an eternal resinous bitterness for a chewy and potent India Pale Ale.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A ring of foam surrounds the hazy orange.
-The mouthfeel on this one is muscular yet friendly. With the intensity and light alcohol felt, this almost drinks like a hopped-up Barley Wine.
-The flavor profile is not really balanced, but I don’t think that’s the point!
-The malts do add some toastiness, which works well with the hop profile.

Bottle.