Roots Organic Woody IPA

Brewed by Roots Organic Brewing
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Portland, Oregon USA

Poured a hazy amber color with a thin off-white head. The aroma had big floral and citrus notes with malt layered underneath. The flavor was short but of fruity and sweet malt. Citrus and big floral hops take to the end. Moderately bitter dry finish.

On tap at the Roots brewpub during ABA Beer Tour 07. Pours a cloudy light amber brew with a decent off-white head. Aroma of caramel malt, lemon zest and some grapefruit. Taste is lightly carbonated, medium bodied with a high bitter and gritty texture. Flavors are more earthy herbs, dry caramel malt and pepper. Finish is very bitter with a heavy grapefruit aftertaste. It’ll keep the hopheads happy.

This has a hazy copper body with a tall, dense head. Nice lacing. The aroma has a sweet caramel base with a fruity juiciness, all covered with grapefruit, soil, zest of lemon, and a whiff of pine. It’s medium bodied and feels peppery hot on the tongue. The sweet malts give a sturdy backbone to support the sharp hops bitterness... only to give out to the hops in the end. The finish is dry with a grapefruit zest and pine needle bitterness that lasts a long time. A bit one dimensional? Sure, but in a way that this hophead appreciates.

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Bottle: Orangish caramel, hazy, large foamy off-white head, fairly nice lacing.   Earthy bitterness on the nose with a slight citrus aspect.   Quite earthy on the tongue, slight grainess, barnish, with a bitterness that is not all that oriented to hop bitterness.   Moreso citrus and grainy bitterness, as I would have expected for an organic brew.   Moderate mouthfeel, fairly full bodied.   Definitely one of the bigger organic IPAs.   Finishes with that organic funk... how do I describe it other than being grainy and earthy.   Fairly good example, definitely sturdy and not weak.   I would be curious as to how this would be on draught, or better yet cask.   Still not sold on organic as I always seem to get that funky grainy bitterness, but this one is surely better than most.

22 oz. bottle from Liquid Solutions. Pours an orangey topaz color with a moderate, but quickly diminishing off-white head. Lucious fruity and hoppy aroma, orange juice, grapefruit rind, subtle hints of toffee, light floral and citrus blossom. Flavor is also highly fruity with some toasty malt presence and of course generous citrus hoppiness, more orange juice and grapefruit rind, hints of pine resin and pepper in the finish. Medium body and gentle carbonation. A very nice IPA.

Sampled April 2007
Pours with a lightly hazed, amber copper color and is topped by a frothy, initially three-finger thick, lightly tanned, off-white head that does not quite have the staying power than one would think it would. The aroma is quite hop focused with sweet citrus notes being most prominent initially. Notes of tangelo, lychee, candied orange peel lay on top of a zesty lemon character that is a mix of lemon zest and pith. At times aromatic notes of caramelized malts and biscuit-like grain are noticeable; it is interesting though that these notes never quite escape the dominant hop character.

The taste is a touch drier than I was expecting, but it still has a soft malt sweetness to it that accentuates the fruity hop notes. In fact I was a bit worried that this would be too sweet, but it is not. There is a gripping hop bitterness that really bites into, and cuts through the palate. This bitterness starts somewhere in the middle and runs through to a long, lingering finish that is quite sharp and astringent. This beer is actually one of the most bitter balanced beers I have had in a while. Somehow the bitterness comes across as scathing, the finish is actually hot from the hops (especially if you wait a bit after the beer has left the mouth); it is almost too much, even for an IPA. There are lots of citrus hop flavors here with notes of tangelo, grapefruit, orange and lychee being quite noticeable. The bitterness combines with a raw, herbal, green, pine character.

This beer showed quite a bit of promise initially, but ultimately the raw, scathingly astringent bitterness just overwhelms this beer. This could be quite good if this was cut back on quite a bit.

22oz bottle. Poured a medium and slightly cloudy amber color with an averaged sized off white head. Aromas of citrus, earthy, and some floral. Tastes of citrus, light caramel, and pine. Medium grapefruit bitter finish. Body on the thin side. Light lacing left on the glass.

Cloudy, golden amber pour with a fairly small eggshell white head. Fruit salad aroma, light and sweet grass with some pine. YUM - chinooks are here. Very woody and earthy pinegrab you, lots of grapefruit on the swallow. A perfect blend of sweet and toasted malts. Very creamy and tingly. By golly, this could be my new favorite IPA. Many thanks to André!