Merchant Ale House IPA

Brewed by Merchant Ale House / Murray Street Brewing
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Saint Catharines, Canada

The aroma was dominated by the hops. Aromas of pine, and citrus were there. Hazy. One finger of head. Poor head retention. Copper/ amber in colour. Good hop flavouring; grassy, a little bit of citrus, pine. Good hop bittering too. Enough malt to stand up to the hops so it is not out of balance. Overall, It’s a nice juicy IPA

On tap at the Merchant Ale House. Pours a hazy orange hued amber with a medium sized tanned beige head. Big pine and citrus aromas. Medium bodied, light caramel, nice grapefruit tones, a slight off note of mineral and metal. Finishes up with a long grapefruit bitterness with a faint hint of caramel. Pretty solid.

Draught at the brewpub. This was a hazy, orange beer in the glass with a thin white head. Hops in the aroma were strong, full of citrus fruit. Tasted some strong bitterness in the hops with some citrus notes.

[1543-20080719] Tap. Brown paper bag hops aroma has fruity citrus hints. Hazy, light brown orange body with a long-lasting creamy off-white head. Juicy bitter citrus hops flavour is not initially assertive but grows so with more sips. Medium body. Very nice hoppy brew.
(@ Merchant Ale House; St. Catherines, ON)
Overheard: "This is (their) best... by far."

Definitely more English character to this brew, really should be a sub-style or something as I don’t think it’s fair to compare it to the west-coast IPAs. Lots of hop aroma in this brew, and a good bitterness in the mouth that was nicely balanced with a subtle malt profile.

John the brewmaster handed me a half pint of this the first time he brewed it and I just about fell over. Not only because John almost never gives free beer. This almost made me cry--it was like the Dragon’s Breath Pale Ale from Kingston Brewing Company, but heartier. Very classic English IPA. Nice big hop nose (English, maybe Kentish hops, I don’t know my hops, definitely not West Coast USA hops). Pours a light amber with, well, they give a little too much head at the Merchant, but I forgive them. Nice lacing, and hops all the way down. I just wish John had the capacity to keep this on tap more often. People like me drink too much of it. John’s a pheonomal brewer.

Amber, creamy average top. Light sweet nose. Not much like an IPA. Creamy body, very smooth with subdued hop character. Think of smooth - creamy ale with medium bitterness. Earthy finish, suggest use of British hops, more like ESB?

On tap at the Merchant Ale House. Amber-orange in colour, thin light beige coloured head. The aroma was of sweet floral hops, some light caramel malts, a bit of lemon and orange. The flavour was of light citrus (oranges mainly), some cantaloupe, flroal hops, earthy malts. Bitter mouthfeel, medium body, light carbonation. Finishes sweet, lingering and dry.