Russian River Blind Pig IPA

Brewed by Russian River Brewing
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Santa Rosa, California USA

~Pours a light golden color with lasting white head. Good lacing. ~Nice grapefruit hop aroma with slight malty sweetness. ~Good citrusy flavor, mild malts. ~Medium sticky feel, bitter finish. ~A nice west coast IPA. Nothing spectacular though.

Bottle from Joey. 500ml. Bottled 2 weeks before I drank it, cant get much fresher. After drinking the Pliny I had a while ago, I was very excited to get to try this one. Orange colored pour with no head. Smell is a giant amount of hops. Smells like a fresh hop, grassy, some orange, awesome. This is how a beer should smell. Taste is bitter, like eating a hop cone, very refreshing. Something that will not find the back of my celler, this one needs to be drank immediately. Really good stuff, typical of RR.

22oz bottle. Nose is lightly citric with resiny hops. Bit Floral as well. Pours a clear orange. Flavor is very hoppy but not at all soapy or astringent. Very evenly balanced. Good mouthfeel reveals a decent malt background. Very well crafted. Great IPA

500mL bottle, courtesy of cloudskipper. Thanks, Chris! Pours a bright, clear golden-orange color; fluffy white head with solid retention and fine-bubbled lacing. Just tons of dense, bitter, generous hoppiness in the aroma: citrus, pine, and herbal; hoppy as all hell, without astringency; a really nice nose. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: lots of soft, chewy hop bitterness throughout: dense herbal, grassy, and citrus hop notes, and without any of the typically necessary malt underpinnings to keep things drinkable; this is just a gorgeous, unabashed, refined display of hoppy goodness; very drinkable, minimal astringency, and just a very generous hop profile throughout; an archetype of bitterness-driven IPAs. Lengthy finish: mineral, herbal, and grassy hops; lasting bitterness; a touch of toasty malts come through at the far shore.

On tap At O’Brien’s in San Diego on 08/01/2008 on the RBSG Friday Pub Crawl. Clear golden amber bofy with a small white head. Citrus floral and grassy hop aroma. Dry grassy, floral and light citrus hop flavor with a firm bitterness in the finish. Medium body with moderate carbonation.

Huge thanks to swnicholson for the chance! Poured from the bottle (bottled 7/9/08) to a tulip. Nice hazy orange with a sticky white head. Good retention. Some floral aromas along with some orange and grapefruit. Great hop bite right up front. Mellows with a wonderful fruity hop lingering bitterness. Ths one is chewy and delicious. It has that extra je ne sais quois that most ipa’s lack. Might be the sticky, oily, fruity hop flavor that does not just make it a hip bomb, but also gives it some balance. It is not just bitter, but full of flavor as well. Wonderful beer.

Very pungent and spicy initial hop aroma blows off to a milder level that offers more citrus within the first thirty seconds. Hazy deep golden body is topped by a decent, if large bubbled white head that lasts well. Strong bitterness lacks a sufficient malt backbone to adequately support it. Plenty of citrus, grassy and pine-like hop flavours but malt sweetness is almost not there. Very dry medium body with decent and lasting carbonation. Sampled on tap at Beachwood Bbq with JohnC

A golden color with a small soapy head. The aroma is hoppy with some lemons and perfume. The flavor is somewhat bitter with some lemons, oranges, and a hint of pine. The aftertaste is bitter as well. The palate is a bit thin but overall this is a nice IPA if not a complex one.