HopTown IPA

Formerly brewed at HopTown Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Pleasanton, California USA

Sampled April 2007
Pours with a brilliantly clear, cranberry-copper color and is topped by a frothy, initially fat-two-finger thick, light tan colored head. The aroma smells of sweet toffee, caramel and figs as well as a herbal citrus character.

Fairly sweet, with a solid caramel malt flavor to it up front. Malt continues on through to a finish that has a dry, toasted grain character to it as well as some continued caramel flavors. The beer finishes with a fair amount of bitterness. As the beer warms herbal hop notes become quite a bit more noticeable, still they are paired with an at times not quite equal, yet in others the dominant note of sweet citrus hop character of orange peel and grapefruit. Touches of biscuits and toasted malt are noticeable around the edges.

This beer is definitely past its hop aggressive prime, without a bottle date though I have no idea to its age. Still it is a good tasting brew that is perhaps a bit more malt balanced than when it first started out in the bottle.

Pours an iridescent, golden amber w/ a full, semi creamy froth. Head retention is superb. Residual lacing is complete w/ a spattred canopy and a fat ring. Aromas of strict hopsy flowers and cooked leathery malts. Full nectr w/ velvety effers. Nice balance right off the bat. Fat malts and strict hops frolic amoungst eachother like two specialized hunting dogs out for a run. Each one carrying it’s own weight to complete the journey. The hops really dig in w/ asprin fingers while the velvety malts glide over leaving trace elements of caramel, sea salt, and citrus rind. The finsh is long and highly bittered w/ the aforementioned hopsy asprin tingling the lips and tongue tip. This brew never gets sweet at all dispaying only a mild fruit component. I would have scored this brew higher if it met my 7% abv requirement. Highly recommended none the less.

From a 22oz Bottle. Pours a transparent ruby amber color with a thin layer of uneven off-white head. Aroma of celeryish hops and some brown sugar and cinnimon spiced bready malts. A bit thin an uninviting. Light bodied, thinly carbonated mouthfeel. Yep, this tastes just like my very first homebrewing attempt. Thin spicy malt base with some dirty yeast esters. Herbally hop finish with some faint citrus notes, but not much bitterness. Slightly underattenuated finish with some grassy cascade.

Poured a hazy amber color with a small off-white head. Moderately hoppy aroma with earthy and sweaty hops and a malty base. Thin malt start to the beer. Mild bitterness from the middle to the finish. Dry with a long bitter finish. Light body.

One of my favorite IPAs. Very nice pour leaving a thick head with a very nice aroma with strong spices. Beer drinks very nice with a smooth flavor that is very enjoyable. Highly recommended if you can find it outside of BevMo.

Another one of the top beers here, and for good reason. This brew is very crisp. Nice sharp flavor followed by a nice smooth after taste. The Look was kind of meh, with it looking kinda "dirty". The smell was a little better than average. in the end, this is rated high for a reason. Solid all around great beer.

22 oz. bottle – amber hue –nice off white head, small bubbles lingering – nose hoppy , mint , caramel , malt , gingerbread , and nutty – taste of grapefruit , hopps , citrus , and malts – smooth , gummy but raw palate - aftertaste lemony citrus and hopps gingerbread , and nutty – taste of grapefruit , hopps , citrus , and malts – smooth but raw palate - aftertaste lemony citrus and hopps

Light wisp of coarse lemony hops. Orange golden-fringed pour. Rim of whitish. Flavor is a light, nice almost raisiny malt character, backed with a heavy hand of hops, in sweet candied orange peel cirtus and lot of both white and ruby red grapefruit character. Some candied ginger and light cherries back this one out of becoming too uninteresting. Another well done, yet not exciting IPA.