Ithaca Excelsior! Ten

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

Rich and heavy. Nice body and nice head from the pour. Aroma is big of fruit and caramel sweetness. Taste is strong and sweet with a bunch of hops. A little pine juicyness and some citrus balance. Ages nicely too. A bottle with a year on it has almost no lingering bitterness and is nice and sweet and the alcohol is not as hot as wehen fresh.

Awesome aroma of malts, caramel, toffee, fruits, with a steady component of citrus and floral hops. An attractive amber, almost brown color, white head. The malts and hops both compete to dominate the nose, reminiscent of the best IIPA’s. The flavor is even better, caramel, toffee, dark fruits, and a citrus tang. The finish moves into a nice, not overpowering, citrus hop bitterness. Alcohol is well hidden. Medium mouthfeel. Excellently crafted beer.

Pours with an amber body topped by a thin soapy head with some lacing. It’s slightly sweet and malty with a hint of bitter hoppiness and notes of grass. medium to full bodied and warming.

Sampled via 750 ml bottle and shared by deliriumfest during Stub & Herbs March Tasting in Minneapolis, MN. Pours a hazy caramel amber brew with a thin creamy beige head that has some nice retention and spotty lacing. Aroma of citrus and fruity hops, with some caramel, toffee and a touch of mint. Taste is medium bodied, some carbonation with flavors of caramel malt, bitter citrus hops, a mild spice and a touch of pine. Finish is semi-dry with a citrus aftertaste that slowly disappears.

Bottle: Poured a cloudy amber color ale with a large foamy head with good retention and good lacing. Aroma of citrus hops and deep caramel and toffee malt backbone. Taste is also dominated by some deep caramel malt backbone with their sweetness well balance by citrusy and bitter hops. Full body with limited filtration and great carbonation while no alcohol is apparent. Not as complex as I had expected but still very well done and very enjoyable.

On tap Coles.. tail end of a cask festival evening! Orange brown body with a nice white head. Aroma: Hoppy, citrus, malt and honey. Flavour Hot (I wrote ’hot’ on my rating??) citrus. honey, cinnamon, malt and fruit with alcohol coming in on the finish. Nice

Another bottle from NY drank in San Fran thanks to my buddy. Dark brown pour with a huge white head and very nice filigreed lacing. Nice hop aroma, both floral and citrus heavy. Alcohol is fairly well masked with just a bit nipping at you towards the end of your sip. Well balanced between a caramel malt sweetness and a pine/citrus hop bite. I desperately want to try more Ithaca brews!

Bottle into red wine glass. Batch E!014 - this one’s fresh. Pours a dark, mahogany brown, with a nice, thick fluffy bone-white head head, that lingers with some nice lacing. Aroma is resiny pine, almost minty and cool, alongside lots of sweet citrus (grapefruit rind), with a spicy alcohol note underneath. Hops come through very green. Syrupy sweet caramel malt comes through as well, just a bit toasty. Simply fantastic, even if a bit hot. Starts off with a molasses-like restrained sweetness, dark and spicy and a bit roasty, pinned down by a big, muscular layer of spicy, resiny hops. Prickly, both from the hops and the alcohol. Finish is long and richly bitter, with the bitterness sitting heavy on the palate along with the echoes of the rich, slightly roasty malt body. Taste is a bit more muddled than the aroma. Definitely a beer to savor over a cold winter day with the snow falling outside. Mouthfeel is a sharp, active but light carbonation over a sticky, syrupy body. The two aspects make for a well-balanced feel. Drinkability - not much problem knocking the bottle out, but the heat and the freshness of the beer certainly kept me from craving another bottle right away.