Kern River Just Outstanding IPA

Bottle from South Bay Drug. Pours ripe apricot with not much head. Beautiful resin and citrus aromas. Medium body with medium carbonation. Flavor is caramel well matched with floral and citrus hop. Very tasty ale. Finishes rather floral, and decently bitter.

March 9, 2009 rating. On a guest tap at Lengthwise Brewing in Bakersfield. Pours a nice amber color with a good off-white head. Aroma was strong pine hops with some citrus in the background. Very "green" smelling. Flavor had a good hop kick, but the malt was not quite up to par to contend with all the hoppiness. Overall, a pretty nice IPA.

Bottle from OTM. Pour hazy dark orange with persistent white bubbly head. Nose is fairly strong fresh citrus hops. Taste is smooth citrus hops on the slimy side with grapefruit and orange dominating...astringency pokes through. Only flaw is slight emptiness on the finish. Very good beer overall. Crisp and refreshing.

Had from bottle and on tap. Bottle and keg from Hi-Time Wines.

Pours amber orange with good amount of head. A tad bit of lacing with a fruity, hoppy aroma. Quite a good IPA with a great balance of hops and malt. Though I prefer hoppier beers, this balance really works.

Bottle - thanks odeed. A glowing golden orange pour with a modest beige head. Lots of sticky acrobatic lacing. The aroma is simple; sweet and citrusy grapefruit hops. Delicious. The flavor is a sweet and citrus filled hop medley. Just a wonderful blend of sweet and tangy fruity hoppiness. Delicious.

Bottle from Hi Time. I got this dece fresh, but could have been about ten days fresher. This smelled like wonderful creamy ripe orange hops and very clean water. Color was on the clody side of yellow. A bit tame for an IPA because the hops don’t stand out much - what does is the water and the malts - very sweet, very light. I think if this were rebranded as a Pale it would be the best in the world.

Great aroma of cirus and pine. Rather Amber with a nice head. Real watery. Flavor is thinned by the water. Slight caramel and bitter finish but hop flavor is subdued. I am surprised by the ratings.

22oz bomber poured into a tulip. Pours a deep, clear amber with a big creamy off-white that shows excellent retention and leaves good lacing as well. The aroma is excellent with lots of pithy grapefruit, oranges and pineapple with some resinous floral hops as well. Doughy bread whiffs as well. Big and juicy aroma overall. The taste follows the aroma closely with lots of citrus hops up front. There does seem to be a more prevalent floral hop presence, especially in the finish with a sticky resinous pine flavor. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with good carbonation but much, much smoother than I was expecting. The hops are definitely there is not nearly the bitterness I was expecting. This is my first beer from Kern river and it’s quite an introduction. This is an outstanding IPA, extremely drinkable with a massive but not scathingly bitter hop presence. Highly impressed.