Mishawaka Hop Head

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

Date: 08/19/2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Ticker Tasting

clear dark gold, big off white head, lots of tiny bubbles, lots of thick drippy lace, sweet crystal mat aroma with citrus and floral hops, nice earthy hops flavor balanced by lightly sweet crystal malts, nice citrus character,

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 12/20
Rating: 3.1/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: *4

12oz bottle, thanks CaptainCougar. Small off-white head atop dead-yeast-filled amber body. Aroma is medium sweet, orange/floral, some caramel. Taste is medium sweet, pine/grapefruit, some earthy, tea, light bread/caramel. Medium body, some resin.

Beer acquired in trade with BBB63 (thanks!). Poured a medium to dark amber color with an averaged sized off white head. Aromas of light pine, flowers, citrus and caramel. Tastes of caramel, butterscotch, and citrus. Medium bitter with a nice malt balance (not your typical overboard bitter IPA). Very good, and I’m glad I had the chance to try this one!

Bottle... Clear, golden ale with a mid-sized, wispy, white head. Terrific retention. This one has that black tea aroma I love... along with a little buttery diacetyl. Also notes of cocoa and crystal malt. More-than-medium-bitter flavor with caramel, more black tea and grapefruit rind. Full-bodied and creamy with moderate carbonation. Finishes tongue-numbingly bitter and lasting. A shout goes out to MI2CA for providing the bottle!

Pours a lightly effervescent transparent amber bronze with a small, clingy-lacing airy white head. Aroma of toasty, earthy, peppery hops and some grainy pale malt. Body starts with some light toasted caramel malty sweetness and good bittering hop balance toward a resiny, drier bittersweet lingering finish. A good to average IPA.

Bottle courtesy of stfun. Pours copper with a white head. Smells of dough and tea. Tastes resiny with some cookies and hints of pepper. Odd for the style.

The body is an unpolished gold with slow, lazy bubbles and a thick, creamy white head. There’s a toffee & caramel scent nearly buried beneath an aroma of grapefruit, pine resin, and pineapple. The flavor is a nice blending of the above, the hoppy bitterness slowly growing, making sure you know that this is an IPA. The finish is a piney bitterness, not strong, but prolonged. A good quaffable IPA, to be sure.

<font size=-4>A White Elephant selection from the <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/events-detail.asp?eve Monthly Chicago RateBeerian Gathering at Flossmoor Station, 10/21/2006.<font size=-1>

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.