Mash House Hoppy Hour IPA

Brewed by The Mash House Restaurant & Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Fayetteville, North Carolina USA

Holy crap! The head on this is unbelieveable. Not what I’d expect for an IPA - nuge & dense. Wonder what the locals think, cuz this packs some IBU’s. Other wordly - meaning this is familiar, but not from around here. Sharply bitter - could use a bit more balance, but kinda getting into the assault.

I’m looking at the ratings here and wondering if I drank the same beer. I had this before dinner at a local restaurant. It looked good enough with a nice deep amber/copper color and a large off white head. Dominant hop aroma, spicy and promising. Then came the problem, a sweetish, diacetyl flavor that was quickly overcome by hop flavors and bittering. I thougt I was imagining it, and had my wife taste it (she’s no big beer drinker) and she thought it had a butterscotch flavor. There was a lingering sweetness, mostly masked by the strong hop character, but not totally covered by the bitter finish. Felt thin, although not watery, and a little too fizzy. I don’t know if this was old and oxidized or what, but I’m going to try it again with a bottle that I know is fresh, and I’ll re-rate it then. Fo rnow, a disappointment.

(Knoxville Brewers’ Jam). Pours honey color with a fluffy off-white head. The aroma is citrusy hops and fruity sweetness. Wow, this tastes a lot like grapefruit juice (which, incidentally, I like). Some grainy zest and general hoppiness is there, too. Not much in the way of malt, but surprisingly appealing.

Cloudy orange. Smooth, creamy, velvety texture. Surprisingly decent malt backbone with a caramel base. Rather stark bitterness with a citrusy bite. Grapefruit and lemon and grass. Flower petal bitterness lingers in the finish.

(12oz bottle) Lightly hazed copper body topped by a big off-white head. Aroma is moderately sweet, floral, grapefruit, peach, some caramel. Taste is medium sweet, grapefruit, orange, floral, some peach, faint lime. Pretty solid bite. Smooth medium body with some resin. Could stand for a bit of rounding, but still, this is a pleasant beer.

(12 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with BlueDevil0206, thanks James!) Fragrant, strongly floral, hoppy, sweet and fruity nose presents a slight spiciness as well. The flavor is actually more than just slightly spicy, and I swear I’m reminded a bit of something Belgian, as crazy as that sounds in an IPA. It’s sweet, hoppy, fairly bitter, and very fruity, with a solid flavor of hops coming out more and more as the beer finishes. It’s not really noticeably malty because the other flavors have such presence, but it’s clear from the medium body that there’s no shortage of malt in this beer. There’s a mild crispness in the finish as the hops becomes more assertive. It’s a tad bit overcarbonated, which was also self-evident when I poured the beer into my pint glass and had to do some serious foam sucking to prevent a messy overflow. Though aided by a well-above average number of carbonation bubbles, the light tan head demonstrates amazing retention, holding a quarter-inch layer for the duration of the session, and depositing plenty of beautifully decorative and intricate lace on much of the glass. Golden-amber in color, with a slight haze, but I can still see the carbonation bubbles quite plainly. Not really the kind of IPA I prefer, too floral and sweet, and lacking clear malt flavor, but this has certainly been enjoyable enough. And it’s an absolutely beautiful beer to look at.

Draft... Hazy, apricot ale with a small, creamy, white head. Great retention. Malty, floral aroma. Heavily bitter flavor... grapefruit rind, plastic and toffee. Medium-bodied and oily with moderate carbonation. Finishes bitter as hell. Surprisingly good.

Out of a bottle. Aroma piney and sweet. Poured a hazy orange with a huge pillowy head. Taste was hoppy but a light hops to it not overbearing. Palate was good overall with a nice light bitter finish to it. Overall tasty.