Mission IPA

Brewed by Mission Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Chula Vista, California USA

Slightly hazy orange pour. Soapy and citrusy aroma with caramel. Flavor is quite bitter, mostly grapefruit peel. Light malt bill

I was really looking forward to a new IPA from SoCal. Picked this up while at Perry’s in Livermore, and it was stored in the cooler. Popped this one open and there was nearly zero hops. Just a ton of carboard with a little bit of caramel sweetness. Ugh. Like a kick to the gut. What a letdown. The beer was a beautiful pour, darkish amber, clear with a creamy light tan head. Light fruits on the palate, some light biscuity sweetness and VERY minimal hops. Really a total let down and perhaps it’s just a bad bottle. I’ll pick-up another one and see if it’s any different, but this one was just blech.

Bottle thanks to Dmac. Pours out a slightly cloudy copper color with a small white head. Aroma is of spicy citrus hops, and some light sweet malt notes. Taste is clean and well balanced, citrus hops and a touch of some grainy/sweet malt notes and a dry finish. Not bad.

Bomber via trade with double0. Poured a deep orange/amber with a smaller bright white head. Aroma was caramel, citrus hops and grains. The body on this one was fuller with average to srong carbonation with a finish that is so bitter it seems almost dry. The flavor has lots of citrus hops, grains and some fruitiness, apricot and peach. Solid stuff but not the best of the day.

Bomber that somehow made its way to a PA bottle shop. The mysteries of this state still elude me. Anyhow, aromas are very good... lots of tropical fruit (mango and light citrus) with some pine. Body is a deep orange and supports a very frothy head that is leaving some wonderful lacing on the side of the glass as I jot down my thoughts. After my first sip I’m wondering who has been hiding this gem from the rest of the world. It has a couple of flaws (a watery mid palate development and a slightly astringent alcohol presence in the aftertaste) but I can overlook most of that for the sheer hops and malt bliss that this brings to the table. Lots of pine (more than in the nose), a bit of mango and some well balanced caramel malt. Darn... this is good.

smells like syrupy grapefruit juice, with thick syrupy malt backing..orange in color, thin head. Flavors are coated in thick, syrupy, unsweet grapefruit, with other rotting citrus, and cardboard..Is that centennial that doing that...I can taste cascade’s presence but the centennial combo is not to my liking, the malt backing is heavy, syrupy, and muddles the whole thing. It tastes like a syrupy double ipa yet has the alcohol level of a regular ipa. what the hell is the point of that?

Pours light amber with a nice tan head and some solid lacing. Aroma is pretty juicy with sweetish citrus but there’s a pretty big dose of malt too. Flavor is a slight departure from the San Diego style one would expect from a San Diego IPA. Good C hop citrus flavors with a medium resinous bitterness and a fat caramel maltiness. Can’t say the balance is bad but I like em hoppier than this. Still a good and very drinkable beer.

Very good IPA. This beer pours a fairly medium golden-amber color with a good head. The aroma is floral and citric with a healthy caramel malt tone. It’s a strong hop nose even for an IPA. The flavor is fairly dry, which I really enjoy. It’s not a terribly bitter beer, but there’s still a lot of hop flavor. There’s a strong but pleasant yeast note. Mission describes it as "earthy," and I would agree with that. The hops are all West coast and well-expressed. I’d love to try more beers from this brewery.