Grand Teton Sweetgrass India Pale Ale

Brewed by Grand Teton Brewing Co.
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Victor, Idaho USA

12 oz. bottle in trade from douglas88- thank you! Served in shaker- poured 10% cloudy copper orange color, off white with a peach tint head formed and laced nicely, aroma of citrus, pine, and floral hops. Hits the mouth with a low medium body, malt is uninspiring, notes of sweetness in the middle, some acidity on the finish but not enough to stop a train for. Mild disappointment.

Bottle from rkuhnel. Very nice pour, lovely head. Sweet, citrussy hops aroma with a bit of zing to them. Kind of thin body though has a nice malt a a clean, finishing bitterness. Not as fruity as the aroma. Easy drinking. Not too shabby.

12oz bottle served in a shaker pint. Poured a fairly clear dark gold with a thin white head. Piney hop aroma. Decent malt base with some caramel malt sweetness. A slight sourness. Good hop bite, but not super bitter. Medium bodied. Solid, easy drinking IPA.

Orange- bronze with an adequate hop-pocked head. Fragrances of Simcoe and Crystal and Cascade hops and a piquant spiciness as advertised conjure up sweet grass and entice you toward the first sip. Flavor is moderately complex with a good spiciness, some fruitiness of Simcoe, Cascade, and Crystal, and a very subdued bitterness, which probably comes from minimal amounts of Chinook. Well-crafted, with excellent hop qualities. Not a hop monster by any means. A solid APA/IPA with enough complexity and good flavor that will have you turning back to this one time and time again.

Orange color with foamy head and decent lacing. Tastes like mandarin oranges with floral notes. A little soapiness. Not bad but I’ve had better IPA’s. Seems a little lightweight for an IPA unless you’re talking about an English IPA and I’m a bigger fan of the American version of IPA’s.

Orange gold body with a white head that leaves thick lacing behind. Citrus hops build up the nose. Crisp palate, soft fruity caramel malt base with a spiciness to the hops. Well balanced.

Well done english IPA. Spicy and floral with lots of citrus and grass on top of a dry, bready malt backbone. A tad stale but overall really well done.

12oz Bottle Another beer sent by ruspoweel in a recent trade. You’ve been keeping me drinking lately Russ. Sweetgrass pours a mildly hazy deep pilsner-like golden. Two fingers worth of clean white sticky head formed on the pour and left solid lacing on its way down, all at once patchy in places and sheet like in others. Although the head falls quickly the patching left behind is nice. A quickly rising carbonation bubble is spotted every now and then but you have to look close. The nose starts off with an approachable biscuity maltiness underneath a faint but noticeable pine needle hoppiness that seems like it’s faded a bit over time. The pine is met with a tea leaf like hoppiness. I can’t help but think maybe this beer has been sitting around a little while but I can’t be sure since I just received it a week ago. This beer smells good and is inviting me to take that first sip. Flavor follows the aroma nicely. While this isn’t an IPA in the style I usually enjoy I find this one enjoyable. The same hoppiness is there as in the nose although a bit more pronounced. Biscuity malts combine with a bit of cake like sweetness. The mild pine and tea leaf like hoppiness comes through just enough to lead the way. Sweetgrass is a solid IPA. Mouthfeel seems to be moderate up front but as it works its way through gets gradually lighter. The carbonation is light and the body is on the lighter side of medium. This is a fairly easy beer to put away. I’m on the fence for drinkability between 3.5 and 4 but I’ll give a 4 because the flavor and smell were in between there too. This is another solid beer from Grand Teton. Not one of my favorite IPAs but it would have to be fantastic to reach that level. This is just an all around solid, easy drinking IPA. 5/18/08