John Sleeman Presents India Pale Ale

Brewed by Sleeman Brewing & Malting Co. (Sapporo)
Style: American Pale Ale
Guelph, Canada

Bottle: Poured a clear amber looking ale with a tiny bubbly white head with below standard retention. Aroma of hops is clearly present with some sweet malt. Taste is dominated by the golding hops with a way too discreet malt presence. Hops presence is definitely too low for my taste in IPA but I’ve seen a lot worse from Sleeman.

Pours a slightly hazy yellow/orange honey-ish color. About a quarter inch of head developed and the quickly faded to just a thin top layer. Floral hop aroma with a sweet grainy presents. Plenty bitter, but it finishes quick. Very grassy. Thin. There’s nothing here to make me want to come back.

This IPA tastes like a regular pale ale. No aroma to speak of. Light on the hops and malt. Watery like some of Sleeman products.

There is very little aroma except for some mild hoppiness. The color is golden with a decent white head and some lacing. Flavor is quite mild with light hop finish.

Bottle, 2/19/06: Bright orange and still but with a big rocky head. Sharply bitter in an earthy, dirty way. Unexpected. Leaves a musty/cheesy aftertaste.

11.5oz bottle. Clear, golden amber hue. Large bubbled off-white head. Rather malty nose. Piney sweet hop aromas. Bitter and dry finish, yet this was rather light itself. Lingering resinous tartness. Smooth, little light, little oily. Not overly hopped. Flicker of caramel in the middle. Not bad, but uninspiring for the style.

Nice orange color with white head. I could detect no aroma which was disappointing for an IPA. Hops come in up front then there is a malty finish. Light for an IPA.

From the bottle.

What a name. "Sleeman presents..." This is the beer equivalent of that old concert standby "An evening with..." --- in other words, a surefire guarantee extreme suckage.

Extreme suckage might be a bit strong, actually. This is a perfectly good, for a bad Canadian pale ale.

Pours clear gold with a small head; the nose is grass and grain. The flavor is more or less as expected, mild by PacNW standards, grainy by British IPA standards. This really doesn’t showcase the hops for anything, though it is hoppier than most Ontario ales that I’ve had. I could get this one down at a conference, but I see little reason to drink it on purpose at home.