Ithaca Cascazilla

Brewed by Ithaca Beer Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Ithaca, New York USA

Mild hoppy aroma, more caramel then one would expect in an IPA. Pours a reddish-amber, with a cap of off-white head. The flavor has more of the malts showcased, with biscuit and caramel notes, and just a bit of bitterness in the finish. A tasty beer, but I wouldn’t class it an IPA.

On tap at Poor Richards. Nice IPA but especially noted was the prominant yeast taste throughout, plenty of malt also, more like an ESB

Deep deep clear amber color with slight carbonation. Off white head with some lacing. Fresh hop aroma with a touch of sweet malt. On mouth it is of medium body and balanced between the hops and malts. Refreshing and crisp are two words I don’t mind using for this beer. It finishes slightly on the bitter hoppy side.

Bottle. Erupted like a volcano into my glass. The aroma is sweet and peppery. Drinks with a big dirty essence, full of a wet mushy hop character, kinda like a wet wool blanket in a glass. (#3730, 11/4/2009)

(Draught) Reddish brown and clear. Small white head. Pine, fruitiness and malts in aroma. Medium bodied palate with medium carbonation. Malts, pine, bitterness, fruitiness, lightly molasses and hint of roastedness in taste. Bitterness and pine in aftertaste.

Deep amber pour off white head creamy lacing and nice flora hop aroma ... caramel malty taste nuts slight roast and a nice citrusy little piney hop finish with a slight bitter finish ... this is an awesome beer very balanced and solid ... alcohol is hidden well .... pretty much an APA if you ask me

THOUGHTS: My first Ithaca rating. A little hop heavy for me. There was a good amount of malt and the hops kind of battle evenly until the end, when the hops beat the malt to death. A little bit British. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a dark, clear, brownish red that looked bright red in the light with an average, off-white head that mostly diminished and left fair lacing. The aroma was moderate dark bread, toasted malts, and a little less caramel malt; moderate herbal, piney and earthy hops with some resinous ones coming out later. There was also tea notes. The initial flavor was sweet, rather bitter and a little acidic; while the finish was rather sweet, very bitter and acidic with a fairly long duration. There was dark bread, toast, tea, caramel, a little fruit, extremely bitter, earthy, piney and herbal hops and some metallic hops as well. The medium body was fairly dry with fizzy carbonation and a metallic and lightly alcoholic finish.

Pours a horrible mud puddle of a copper color. No head. No lacing. Aroma is almost nonexistent. Taste is "dirty" like earthy. Some sweetness. Bitterness like it wasn’t thought out but just there because the hops were an afterthought. Very disappointing.