McEwans India Pale Ale

Brewed by John Smiths (S&N, Heineken)
Style: Bitter
Tadcaster, England

What? Did i miss something here? Wait..let me read the bottle one more time just to be accurate...yup..it does say IPA...though i dont know what the hell they’re talking about. This has virtually no aroma other than a mild malt. It pours a deep amber color with mild carbonation, but in essence is practically tasteless. I cannot find the slightest trace of hops here, but yet the taste is mildly pleasant and slightly malty and dry...a nice aftertaste. But in the end..i bought this IPA in order to get the taste of a hoppy IPA and this just isnt it my friends.

Draught: One word: Cherry...Cherry vinegar tainted aroma...color of week old cherry soda that has been basking in the sun in the dessert in the middle of july...Cherry ice cream flavor...This is the farthest that a beer called an IPA can be from a genuine IPA...Extremely watery and light and missing substance..but still refreshing and drinkable

The beer pours crystal clear deep amber to burnished copper color, the head minimal, the lace in spindly sheets, and they both disappear much to quickly for my liking. Nose is all malt, light hints of caramel, clean and fresh at any rate. Front is sweet and malt laden the top skinny, the finish has a big acidic bite, the hops are light, and under stated as are most non-American IPA’s. Please don’t misunderstand, as this is not meant to be a criticism, as I like the complex flavors and bodies in these IPA’s and ales for that matter. Overall, this beer is a bit bland and watery, at least for me.

not a true IPA...still enjoyable. a tad on the sweet side. goes down very easy.

Clear, deep copper/red colored. Thin head and decent lace. Aroma of doughy malt, slight hops and not much more. Medium bodied, nice malts on palate, a bit sweet, scottish in nature obviously. Ummm, where the hops? Clean finish. Decent scottish ale but an IPA this is not.

Nothing outstanding here. Some decent malt flavors of caramel and toffee. Virtually no hops. I was disappointed as I really wanted an IPA. Again, disappointing.

This has a malt, bordering on freshly brewed tea smell. Much sweetness but not much hops in the nose. It pours a solid copper that turns disturbingly clear around the edges, nice lace though. This is just really sweet. I’m having a really hard time finding the hops. The malt overtone isn’t bad, a kind of watery tea like twang.

Not a whole lot going on. Malty with toffee and caramel flavors. Hops at the end, but a bit skunky. Lacks some body, finishes overly sweet.