Mountain Sun I and IPA (Batch 600)

Draft Cloudy peach. Uneven tiny-bubbled head. Orange rind and apricot aromas fill the nose. Whisper of garlic and honeycomb. Sharp and overly brisk carbonation. Heavily sweet and resinous, upfront. Fresh orange and a vibrant mintiness trails behind. Chewy resins silence some of the unpleasant acidity, but the acidity still wreaks havoc on the drinkability as it overwhelms the palate. Harsh notes of aspirin emerge from the depths, and the hop character remains quite unrefined from then on. Wafery malt sweetness is faintly perceptible, and what’s there is very unpronounced. Finishes with a sharp and chalky dryness as lemongrass and acidic hops linger. Nice profusion of citrus burps abound after each belch. All in all, the carbonation is overly chalky and therefore hinders the juicy hop qualities. The hop character is also disappointingly shallow, one dimensional, and far too acidic rather than sweet and succulent. Decent.

On tap at the brewpub. Jolly Rancher candy aroma with lots of fruitiness. Wonderful strawberry aroma. Very smooth beer with a long hoppy floral finish. Outstanding.

On tap @ Power Plant Strong Ale Festival. Candi sugar & citrus aroma (orange & grapefruit). Hazy orange color. Initial taste is sweet, wildflower honey, & candi sugar followed by brown sugar and a pronounced pinyness and to a lesser extent, citrus.

This is a nice "extreme", "double", or as the waitress termed it, "American", IPA. The lemongrass tames the bitterness of the piny hops but not the bite. What’s left is a grapefruit, apricot, and floral bouquet.

Tap @ Mountain sun: Poured a slightly hazed amber color with a large off-white head. Big sweet grapefruit hop aroma. Sweaty and grassy. The smell is thick and sweet. Caramel malt flavor starts then the hops take over from the middle to the finish. Piny bitter dry finish. Moderately bitter. Medium to full bodied. Some warmth and almost silky.