Otter Creek 15th Anniversary IPA

Brewed by Otter Creek Brewing
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Middlebury, Vermont USA

Bottle. Pours a relatively clear sticky looking brownish amber color with a sizeable tan head. Not a whole lot of hops on the nose (never a good sign for an IPA), but a good amount of malt and nice toasty notes. Not sure if this is just old now, and has lost all hop characteristics, but this doesn’t drink like an IPA. Sweet and malty, medium bodied, with some warming alcohol notes. Finishes with almost a hint of bitterness, but mostly just more sweet malt notes. I’d have pegged this as an old ale or some such other sweet and malty thing. It’s not bad, but it’s not an IPA.

Pours copper with a thin white head. Smells earthy with some resiny hints. Tastes bitter with some caramel and earthy hints on the finish. Not very hoppy considering the ABV and style.

Perfectly cloudy copper coloured body with ruby highlights and a nice tan head to top off the beer. Aroma of fresh hops, caster sugar, toffee and a light spiceyness. Medium to full-bodied; Sharp taste of hops up front with the bitterness following and a very small presence of malt along with some mild sweetness. Aftertaste shows more of the hop bitterness and pretty much nothing else. Overall, one-dimensional and a bit lacking in many respects. Not really worth trying unless you want to maximize on your IPA intake. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from Whole Foods in Clarendon, Virginia on 08-April-2006 on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

I had this a few times and it sort of grew on me. It became better after a few time for some reason. The aroma is pretty nice. Sweet, hoppy and balanced. Taste is smooth hops and caramel malts. Nice crystal essence. Some pine and hints of citrus.

Bomber courtesy of cbkschubert. Earthly aroma notes along bisket dough. Copper body with good head and decent lacing. Flavor has a good citrus sugar tatste to it. Not as crisp as most ipa’s are. Leaves a sugary sweet sticky aftertaste on palate. Good brew thanks Craig

Bottle. Pours orange with a sticky off white head. Hoppy aroma, with grassy, floral and sweet caramel and fruit notes. Medium body. Flavor is again hoppy, grass, floral and a bit of pine, as well as a solid caramel malt base. Finishes with a nice lingering bitterness.

Bottle. Pours a deep orange color. Very malty, caramel & muted hops aroma. This bottle has been around for a bit so iM sure the hops element has faded. Malts dominate here. Pretty flavorful. Sweeter malts, caramel malts right up front followed but some minor piney hops. Well balanced& tasty but I should of pulled this one out a while ago

Pours an orange copper colour with a medium, frothy off-white head that leaves great lacing. The nose is robustly malty with fruity and citric overtones. Grahm cracker, caramel, vanilla, orange and some pine all come to mind. The flavour is a bit earthier, with brown sugar, burnt caramel and vinous malts. The hops are initially very bitter, but with each sip they begin to meld much better with the malty flavours. The hops come across as citric, mostly orange-like, and a bit weak for my tastes. The finsh is a little short and watery, but overall the beer is well-balanced and tasty.