Jack Russell Captain Boomers IPA

Brewed by Jack Russell Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Camino, California USA

Name: Captain Boomer’s IPA
Date: July 13, 2009
Mode: Bottle
Source: Roadtrip
Appearance: muddy burnt orange, fine beige head, streaks of drippy lace
Aroma: dry malt aroma, lots of earthyness, a touch of cardbord (bought this week), light spicyness
Flavor: lightly sweet malt flavor, plenty of balancing earthyness, light bitterness, hint of fruityness
Aroma: 5/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 11/20
Rating: 2.9/5.0
Drinkability: 6/10
Score: *4

Bottle. Nice golden amber ale with a thin white head. Floral hops come out well in aroma. Sweet crisp malt, with nutty notes, and roasted bitterness. Medium bodied. August 2005.

12 oz. bottle. Malty aroma backed by fruity/floral aspects. Rich reddish amber color with a white head that ringed. Thin to medium bodied with creamy carbonation. The flavor suggests tea, tobacco, peach, harsh roasted malt, grapefruit hop. The net effect is rather dirty/gritty. So it’s not all that smooth, but it does have impact. The finish is sweet, dry, astringent. Something of an interesting contradiction. As time wears on the fruitiness gains prominence. Some of the annoying characteristics seem to be in the Big Ass brews. There’s enough flavor here to make them tolerable. Interesting overall.

2006 bottle drunk on 3/16/07
Quite a dark IPA. Deep amber-auburn with light tan highlights. Head is small in size, dark beige in color and fairly rapidly recedes to a ring, leaving little/no lacing. Some sediment left on the bottom, but it seems to be just protein break, as all signs point to this being force carbed. Clarity is high.
Very fruity nose. It seems to make use of an English ale yeast or higher than average fermentation temps for an American ale yeast. Fruity, but rather muted, hops, as well, give off notes of peaches, apples and some light floral/leafiness. A bit of bitterness reaches the back of the nostrils, but is eventually consumed by a strong crystal malt character that leaves quite a bit of hardness and crusty breadiness in its place. Smells sort of like raspberry iced tea....Very light orange-tangerine hop notes emerge with warming, as well as a very slight pale malt sweetness, but the aroma remains mostly hard, full of marginal fruitiness and with just too little aromatic, fresh hoppiness.
Similar problems with the flavor, which probably suffer even worse. Seems like it’s just a basic cascade/centennial-like bittering hop charge, that seems soggy, somewhat acidic and certainly not overly flavorful or juicy. Lots of orange peel-like flavor, with a bit of tea-like astringency that is exacerbated by the hard, crusty, tea-like crystal maltiness. Minimal sweetness, an underwhelming texture (loose, somewhat watery) and just lack of anything distinctly enjoyable. No alcohol or flaws, however.

Bottle poured a hazy golden amber with a small lingering amber head. Aromas of carmel, earthiness, light pine and light fruittiness. Palate was medium bodied and smooth with a dry finish. Flavors of carmel, earthiness, light pine and light citrus with a smooth dry lingering moderatly bitter finish.

Draft. Caramel amber beer with a thin off-white head. Low citrus aroma compared to flavor. Lots of citrus in flavor with a caramel backing. LIngering bitterness. There’s a hint of chocolate malt, some fruitiness, and a bit of tannin.

On tap at Jack Russell. This orange/amber ale poured with a short white head that dissipated quickly. The aroma was slightly hoppy, the flavor initially sweet with a long bitter finish.

Bought this because I recently had a sweet Newfoundland dog named Boomer. This was a murky deep copper body with a HUGE off-white head. HUGE. Had a nice hoppy, grapefruity aroma but not as intense as other IPAs. Medium body with a smooth and refreshing mouthfeel. Flavor was pleasant sweetness and lightly hoppy. Not bad.