Manhattan Beach India Pale Ale

Brewed by Manhattan Beach Brewing
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Manhattan Beach, California USA

Draught. Pours clear pale orange with an average, frothy, white head, somewhat lasting with good lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (caramel, husky grain), heavy hops (perfume, citrus, pine), and heavy yeast (sweat, must). Light bodied, oily texture, average carbonation, and a bitter finish. Long duration, light sweetness, moderate acidity and bitterness. Dirty and sweaty socks steeped in this beer a while.

On draft at Manhattan Beach. Very bitter. floppy and thin. Citrisy, grassy, one dimensional IPA. Tasted strong alcohol content. White head.

This is a pretty good IPA, tasty and well-rounded. It seems a little on the softer, less hoppily pungent side for a West Coast IPA. It is amber with a thin, somewhat off-white head. This slowly shrinks to leave a ring and wispy top plus some pretty nice even rings of lace. The aroma is malty and fruity, a bit juicy, with hints of pine, lemon, grapes and honey. The taste is similar, malty body and fruity sweetness with som wine and grain plus a hint of cracker. It has light, just dominant pine-citrus hop character and bitterness that lightly takes over the finish. Its’s smooth, tasty, has balanced, fairly full flavour and a good character breadth.

Draft at the brewpub. Probably my favorite of the trip. Decent hop aromas off this amber colored beer. Citrus nose gave way to more floral and grassy flavors. Nicely hopped. Very Decent.

Tap @ brewpub: Clear gold with a nice off-white head & sticky lacing. Sweet perfumy hop aroma, but the question I have to ask myself and the brewer at Manhattan Beach is: Is this a pale ale? Because it sure seems like it. The hop presence is mild and kind of papery. More like a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. The body is full and like a good pale ale, it has a fairly bitter aftertaste. they need to double the hops in this to make it a real standout IPA.

Draught at the pub 03/2008. Floral hops lacing whitish head copper hued golden. Nice sweet full hops bitter finish. Light bodied. Nice IPA.

Sample at the brewpub. Clear yellow-orange color with a medium thin and foamy off-white head with fair retention. Top ring of lace on the glass. Aroma of citrus and pine, plus a touch of malt. Medium-bodied and moderately hoppy with flavors of hops, malt and spices. Oak undertones as well. The finish is hoppy and leaves a bitter aftertaste. Above average overall.

On tap at brewery, 01/07/08. Clear gold with nice head retention (as most of their beers seem to have here). No aroma. Flavor starts with piny hops, segues into a little sweet malt and finishes a little spicy (black pepper). Lingering bitter aftertaste. Okay.