Russian River Blind Pig IPA

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

Golden color out of the bottle with a big, frothy white head. Very fresh, aromatic floral hop. Piney hops in the fore with the grapefruit citrus notes coming toward the finish. Caramel, apricot, tangerine all in the mix. The hops win the battle of the balance, but for hop heads, this is a very nice beer.

On tap @ Monks. Deep golden in color with a nice fluffy white head. Grassy, earthy piney hop aroma. Orange and grapefruit notes. Hoppy and malty flavor. Citrusy piney and peppery notes. Nice bitter finish. Full bodied. Well balanced. Refreshing.

Bronze-hued golden. Healthy dollop of persistent white cream laces nicely. Resinous and grapefruit-peel hop aromas reside over artfully restrained nut- and caramel-tinged malts. Hints of aspirin, tangerine and peach skin. Soft and fluffy carbonation. Unfiltered. Hops immediately unleash their resinous sting on the palate. Subdued yet bright pockets of airiness surge forth to offset the tacky oils while briefly unveiling softer, juicier dabs of mango, assorted melon, overripe peach, and grapefruit flesh. Bitter resurgence of hops evokes thoughts of pungent blood oranges and salted grapefruit rind, though the resin stops just shy of becoming fatiguing. Raspy notes of aspirin and chalk further tarnish the underlying succulent hop character which is just begging for attention. Malt remains steady, though always relaxed in its supportiveness, gently imparting pillowy textures of straw, nuts, and caramel. Finishes with hints of sharp candied lemon zest which does its best to keep the oily hops from becoming overly oppressive. While undeniably well-constructed (malts are clean, composed and soft, along with some nicely integrated esters), there is still a bit too much emphasis on the yeast and resin and not enough on bright hop flavor. Middle of the road.

Thanks to xmarcnolanx for sharing this gem. Pours golden orange with a whitish head. The aroma has lots of orange, grapefruit, light green onion and lightly toasted caramel malt. Medium resiny body with semi-sharp carbonation. The flavor starts like the aroma with some piny aspects. The taste is even more hop heavy than the aroma. The finish is bone dry with earthy hoppiness. A great IPA.

Thanks to BeerHawk for sharing this one at decaturstevo’s 2008 Zapit Tasing Tasting. Clear body of dark yellow with a fleeting white head. Piney hops well balanced by the malt. Nicely balanced that finishes with a nice smooth bitterness.

Bottle. Pours hazy gold with a thin and lacy white head. Medium-to-light body and moderate carbonation. Grapefruit, floral and resin aroma. Sweet taste of caramel and oranges. Crisp finish. Nice stuff.

tap at the brewpub - Things really started looking up for my Russian River sampler when I got to the Blind Pig. An assertive citrus hops aroma starts it off. The flavor strikes a good balance with lots of malt creeping up on the moderately intense hops. It has a fairly mild finish for an IPA, but it still lingers for awhile.

On tap at Horse Brass--Poured a West Coast IPA body light orange-golden with a frothy blanketing white head. Big citrus floral hoppy aroma. Similar to Pliny but with less of a malt spine. Grapefruit and pine notes rule this beer. Very smooth for how unbalanced it is. Yum!