Ithaca Outdoor Harvest Ale

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

Growler shared at the IT100. Pours a mostly translucent golden amber with a medium creamy off white head that laced. Aroma of a tons of fresh floral, citrusy hops, grapefruit, some pine, bready and caramel malt. Flavor of of the same with some more grassy notes and quite bitter.

Draught. At Cole’s, Buffalo, NY. Cloudy orange pour with an average lasting off-white draught head. Mildly floral sweet grain aroma, generic and a bit dry. The taste is quite solid - fresh cereal grain, not too sweet, a nice dry leafy bitterness balances it out. Average body, carbonation and linger - nothing special, but a great quaffer - the sum is greater than the parts, I would have this again in a heartbeat - well above their usual offerings.

Tap at Barcade: Pale hazy yellow with a thin but strong white head. The aroma is clean, crackery and grassy with a light doughy note and peppery/spicy hop notes. Crisp body- lean but solid pale malt base. Nice and dry with an herbal/peppery hop presence. Solid long bitterness on the back. A very nice session for early Autumn.

Tasted at the 2008 Bistro Wet Hop Festival 10/4/2008. The IPA pours a light gold color from tap. Medium sized white foamy head. The aroma is floral and herbal. A medium bodied IPA. The malts are fruity and sweet. The hops are resiny, floral and herbal. Nice balance, medium bitterness, more in the English Style IPA. Not a lot of residual bitterness but kind of resiny. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

(draft @ Tap and Mallet - Rochester, NY) Golden pour with a thin white head. Aroma is mild with some floral and bitter hop flavors and a light touch of citrus. Flavor is well balanced with a nice malty backbone mixing with some flowery and citrusy hops. Clean finish.

(Draught) Pours a lightly hazy yellow body with a small white head. Aroma of grass, floral, biscuit, and delicate herbs. Flavor of grass, subtle mint leaf, florals, and caramel malt.

Tap at Rattle N Hum. Slightly hazy golden pour. Thin white head. The nose is lightly citrusy. A kiss of light orange peel and some light grainy malt. the nose is surprisingly light and restrained. There is a bit of light buttery sweetness. There is a touch of light fruitiness and some sweet malt. There is a touch of crackery malt and some light bitterness. A little bit of cherry. It’s okay... a fairly quaffable.

Draft from Village Beer Merchant. Pours a not-exactly-clear coppery gold. Aroma is sweet and spicy. On first take I thought it was a blend of a farmhouse and a brittish pale ale, but the hops provided a bit of citrusy aroma too. Mouthfeel: Average carb., bubble rolled nicely over my tounge. Smooth drinking beer. Taste: Those hops definitely are familiar from their retired New York State Double IPA. This beer is waaaaay lighter and not really in the pale ale category. The jnitial flavor, to me, is of a european pilsner with a twist. Sweeter malt flavor comes through and the bubbles on the back of my tounge roll in with a faint sourness while the citrus-rind bitterness of the fresh cascades sticks to the sides of my tounge for a while. Overall.......decent brew. Lies somewhere between a hoppy, but balanced german lager and a hop harvest ale.