Grand Teton Sweetgrass India Pale Ale

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

12oz bottle. Pours a clear dark gold with a huge 3 finger off-white head with spotty, chunky lacing. Nose is bready malt and sweet citrus. Taste is malt, mild grapefruit and a touch of resin in the finish. Lighter mouth feel. Pretty mellow for an IPA – comes off more like a Pale.