Loup Rouge LÎle de Grâce

On tap at Loup Rouge. The color is a dark amber with a thin beige head. The taste is of hops and fruits. The aroama is also of hops . The bitterness is most noticeable thus it makes it a very good I.P.A.

My Bottom Line:
This nourishing American-style India Pale sculpts chewy caramel maltiness around ever-growing resinous and citrusy hoppiness as strawberry-like fruitiness and earthy, coniferous bitterness salutes each ending.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-Creamy foam stands atop the hazy dark red.
-This is obviously not the brash pint Rasta had a couple of months ago. It’s intensely flavorful, but balanced throughout. There is enough caramel sweetness to balance out the resinous intensity from aroma to finish.
-This grain bill develops chocolatey side-flavors which are highly agreeable with the chosen hoppiness.
-The rich body and pillowy carbonation are a fine feature once again.

On tap at the brewpub.

Objectively speaking: Very dark, cloudy and agressively hopped IPA.
I like: Hop shortage does not exist in Sorel. Savagely aromatic and rather complex hop profile in fact: very fruity, but earthy, salty, sharp and leafy.
I dislike: Probably my least favourite of the 4 Loup Rouge offerings I’ve tried. Its maltiness lacks in brightness compared to the overwhelming hops. Rarely have I drank a 5.5% beer that was not more drinkable than that. The body dies under the hop pressure (no crispiness) while the yeast (unfiltered) tries to join in, but remains musty and vague. No definition outside those crushing hops which go in every direction.

Bu en fut (12 oz) sur place, le 25/4/08. Rousse foncée, mince collet. arome de pêche houblonné, un peu amère. Goût d’houblon maladement amère, des notes d’agrumes et de pêches, arrière-goût d’amerturment très présante et durable. Un bon IPA solide avec de l’amerturme fou!