Lancaster Hop Hog IPA

Brewed by Lancaster Brewing Co.
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Lancaster, Pennsylvania USA

Very nice. Good hoppy flavor, but balanced well by malts, and having to only pay nearly nothing at Maryland distrubiting cost makes this one a value in disguise. A very nice IPA.

Pours with a brilliantly clear, reddish amber color and is topped by a frothy, initially two finger thick, light tan colored head. The aroma has a sharp, grassy herbal note that overlies a solid citrusy hop character. Notes of grapefruit, tangerine, lychee, bergamot and even some lemon notes intermingle with herbaceous pine notes and sharp hop aromatics. A lightly noticeable malt character supports the hop aromatics and suggests at notes of toasted grain and caramel.

The taste is quite sweet up front, with a large, almost exaggerated malt character that reminds me of malt extract. Still this beer is definitely hop dominated; notes of sweet citrus fruit and lighter herbal notes are definitely here as is a fairly solid bitterness. The sweet, almost unfermented, malt character just seems to get in the way here. One might think that an abundance of malt character might help to balance the ample hop presence, but somehow that is not the case here. This beer is almost jarring with it’s sweet malt notes. I wouldn’t say there were any bad flavor components here, it is just that as a whole this beer does not work. Certainly not as an IPA where the hops are supposed to shine and a certain amount of drinkability / quaffability (even in a scathingly hoppy version) must be present. Unfortunately in the end I just cant shake the feeling that I am drinking unfermented wort, at least my bottle did not have any diacetyl.

12 oz bottle. Pours a deep amber. Tons of vanilla/butterscotch in the aroma as well as the taste. Hops are present, but diacetyl is completely in the forefront.

For an IPA that had a great hop bite on tap at the brewery I am dissapointed in the result of bottling. When sampled on tap it reminded of Harpoon IPA and maybe even Serria Nevada Pale Ale. The case we just sampled seems to be lacking a lot of hoppiness.

From my secret santa...Pours a golden brown color with no head. Aroma is nice--lots of caramel scents. The palate is think with low carbonation. The taste is shocking in that there really is no hop presence in this hog. Dissapointing.

Aroma is caramel and some very light hops.Pours very light brown with almost no head.Get some caramel malts in the flavor.Medium mouthfeel with a lot of malt in the finish.

Hoppy aroma. Slightly hazy. Full bodied. Medium body lively cabonated. Kickass buzz.

A better name for this beer would be "Hop Piglet". The sweet aroma and un-offending taste of sugary malt tell me this little piggy didn’t go to the hop farm. The only indication of this being an IPA was in the bitter finish which was too gentle. For those who like the pale ale style but don’t like the bitterness, have at it. This is one beer I didn’t go...dare I say it? Hog wild over.