Ithaca Excelsior! Ten

Brewed by Ithaca Beer Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Ithaca, New York USA

Mmmm strong ale... Botlte: pours ruby. Can I say a beer is "fluffy"? This beer was fluffy. I got a light hop aroma here, but it was all malt to me. Sweet, bready malts. I would definitely not call this "aggressively hopped". I’d call it "fluffy".

Tasted at the Carolina Crew gathering in Greenville. Amber colored pour, white head, Some hop and caramel malt aroma. Very malty flavor. Some alcohol presence. Tasty stuff.

Bottle from Capone’s. Pours turbid burnt umbery with some ruby and dark brown highlights and a huge, fluffy 3-finger khaki head. The aroma is a beautiful behemoth medley of piney hops, pineapple, mango, black pepper, vinous fruit, and caramel malt...very Dreadnaughty aroma. The taste is heavy caramel malt matched by a huge hop bill, giving an array of the aforementioned citrus and tropical fruits. As it warms, the fruit emerges even more and I even noted a late cognacy spirit flavor. The palate is rich, with more than enough malt to expertly balance the hops. My only beef is that it gets a tiny bit hot late, but that heat just adds to the allure here, taking nothing away from the drinkability of this gem, one of the finer IPAs I’ve ever quaffed. Ithaca continues to blow me away with their aggressive beers, made with a technical expertise that others may misinterpret as a thumb in the eye to traditional styles. Beers this awesome don’t come from a Cracker Jack box, fellas.

1 Pint bottle, 2nd to last at Finger Lakes Beverage Co. in Ithaca. Bottle # E!009. Pours deep amber with a bountiful, beautiful, cloud-like fluffy head. Some of the best lacing I’ve seen, ever. Smells like Cascazilla on steroids. Tastes like Cascazilla on steroids! Tastes like everything from grapefruit, orange, and even strawberry. Silky finish, low carbonation, and very drinkable for 9.9% The best beer my hometown brews, too bad it is limited release and so expensive!

Creamy, frothy pour. Aggressive hops over graham cracker aroma. Spicy, lightly sweet flavor. Very nice.

Carolina Crew Gathering Greenville, NC. Thanks to Ryan for sharing! Nose has some nice hops, and a bit of caramel malt. Flavor is very similar with a lot of hops. Nice stuff.

Carolina Crew Gathering Greenville, NC. Thanks to Ryan for sharing! My second beer from Ithaca and I must say its another fine offering from a great brewery. Hazy amber 9almost copper) pour with fluffy off-white head. Big hoppy aroma very floral like. Medium mouth-feel. Sweet toasted carmel malt flavor, notes of wood and hops. Well balanced!

Appearance: Pours a hazy, burnt umber body with a small, though sustaining, ivory-colored head. Smell: Resinous, hoppy aroma smelling of oily grapefruit rinds and earthy wood tones. Comparatively mild malt notes of caramel and toasted grains. Taste: Sweet caramel flavor with a taste of toasted biscuits followed by a sugar shooing kick of medium-high hop bitterness. Resiny, citrusy (pithy even) hop flavors. Plenty of wood in there too. Bittersweet finish with a definite alcohol heat to it. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Some creaminess to the mouthfeel. Drinkability: A bit reckless with the hops for me, but hey, if that’s what the kids are doing these days.