Mishawaka Hop Head

Brewed by Mishawaka Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Mishawaka, Indiana USA

Bottle: Gold haze, nice head and lacing. Nose of crispy hops, some vague pale malt and a near infected sharpness and carbonation level. The flavor is pretty thin, but has a nice earthy hop flavor with the light malts. An overhopped golden ale. Not much bitterness though. Finishes grassy, lingering. Eh.

Bottle. Hazy apricot color with fluffy head. Hoppy with roasted malt aroma. The taste was the same with bitter roasted hop finish.

WARNING_ MY WHOLE SIX PACK WERE INFECTED BOTTLE BOMBS! Bottle from Chalet Party Shop in Goshen, IN. Pours a pale orange amber with a retentive sudsy eggshell head. However, this was a gusher and took 10 minutes for the head to die down. Grapefruit aroma, but rather subdued for the style. Grapefruit and pine hop flavors dominate the flavor with light pale malt backdrop. A somewhat uninteresting use of hops. This reminds me more of a homebrew than a commercial micro brew. However, I had one explode in beer cellar, and I got a nice little cut reaching in for a beer. Cleaning up the floor was fun too. Thanks Mishawaka!

12oz. Bottle $1.49 single Big Red Bloomington Hop Head poured a very lightly hazed copper. Turns golden when held to the light. There are a lot of tiny carbonation bubbles rising to the 1 finger creamy white head. A thick cap rests on top throughout the drink. Looks pretty good. The smell is truly disappointing. I can pick up a little fruity hoppiness right away but it is quickly taken over by an off-putting aroma of dirt and metal. It’s strange but this beer smells like there was a hanful of dirt thrown in it. The more I smell it the worse it gets. I find myself hesitating with every drink. The taste is better than the smell. There is a caramel malt quality that is found in most IPAs. Followed by a balancing citrus hop with mild bitterness. It tastes creamy. There is a little of the metallic flavor but not much. Pretty average. Medium bodied with a nice creamy mouthfeel. Moderate carbonation. They did a good job on the feel of Hop Head. Drinkability is average. If it wasn’t for the smell I believe it would taste better as well. Without the smell it would be much easier to drink. This is a slightly above average IPA but taking into consideration the dirty smell it brings the enjoyment out of it. I would try another though. 12/10/06

Bottle. Hazy orange pour with an off white head. Aroma of floral hops, light coconut and doughy malt. Flavor was a bit metallic with floral hops a bit of citrus and light pale malt. Medium bodied, metallic and bitter with a medicinal finish.

Bottle: Pours an orange gold in color with an off white head, and some floaties. Aroma, kinda musty, with some caramel and citrus, a bit of pine perhaps. Flavor, citrus, caramel, and a metallic note, not much in the way of bitterness either. Looking at the other ratings this may have been a bad bottle.

12oz bottle pours amber with a healthy offwhite head. Good aromas of grapefruit, pine and even a little caramel behind it. Lace is there on the glass. Flavor is hoppy too with some good citrus and pine that gives way to the caramel malts behind before the bitter finish. Pretty well balanced throughout and a nice IPA overall..

Bottle. Pours a slightly oranged yellow with an incredible, explosive, very persistant head. I thought this had a lot bitterness going on and not much else. Did I say an explosive head? I didn’t get alot of different nuances in this one, just pretty one dimensional and a very basic IPA. Thanks to lewis13 for the bottle