Russian River Blind Pig IPA

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

On tap at Toronado. This copper ale poured with a thin white head. There is a full hoppy flavor, a lemon finish and a carbonated mouthfeel. The hops are tasty and not overdone. Another fine brew from Russian River.

Pours a copper amber with a lacy white head. The nose was very citrusy, soft and peachy, sweet, grapefruit and apricot. The flavor had more of a bitterness than I was expecting. Has a nice peachy/apricot hop flavor but also a lot of bitterness.

Bottle (in NZ). Pours an orange/gold with a large foamy white head. An explosive hop aroma of melon, grapefruit and manderins - but a bit perfumy. More balanced on the palate, I’m quite surprised by the moderation of the hops. The malt is smoothless, though lacking a little in flavour, and merges ’like a zip’ with hops that are increasingly bitter in the finish. I’m not liking this as much as others, but still a very nice beer.

OK, after 30 or so pints @ the brewpub I think I can rate this. Clear amber orange with a one finger white head, slowly fading to a thick film and sheet of lace on the glass. Aroma has loads of grapefruit pulp and rind, along with some bitter pine needles and clean caramel in the backend. The flavor is much the same with added pine needles, and a fair amount drier and more bitter than the RR IPA. As far as I know they don’t vary the hops, but this particular batch is incredibly fruity and amazing. Other batches are a bit more dank and "weed"-like. Bitterness peaks around a 6 in the dry finish. Typical of the West Coast to deprive your senses of malt character, but the purpose of IPA?s was not for the malt. Burps pine needles. Light to moderate prickly carbonation with a medium body. I must bump my rating up a bit, as this batch (4/04/09 rerate) is phenomenal. Wonderfully crafted West Coast IPA.

Pours a fairly clear gold orange, with a thick, foamy white head. Smells of fresh, crisp, juicy citric hops, with some subtle grapefruit adding some balance. The flavor is smooth and crisp as well, with a nice balanced hop presence, although pretty strong for a regular IPA. Pretty sharp hop bitterness in the finish and lingering aftertaste, with traces of that grapefruit citrus showing up as well. Nicely done IPA, which is no surprise coming from these guys.

Bottle, thanks Dr. Bill! Light golden color with a wispy foam that lasts well. Very nice nose, which is dominated by very bright woodsy hops, with other light notes of resin and lemon from the hops. Flavor hoppiness and bitterness is very bold and impressive, and lingers in the finish very well. The hops are raw, pure, well utilized and again, they linger well after the swallow. Flavor hops are similar to the nose and can best be described as very woodsy. A minor critique, it doesn’t have a lot of body, but the finish makes up for it. Overall, really nice IPA.

500mL Bottle. Thanks Andy! Flickr(http://www.flickr.com/photos/26049401@N Gross. Stinky wet dog and dying cheese aroma, back in there somewhere is a run of grass, but it just comes out smelling a bit like peanut butter, ass and bananas to me. Pours a slightly hazed golden amber, with a beautiful head of lacing white foam. Continuing wet animal and bitterness. This tastes JUST like the disgusting hop bomb that I made a little over a month ago. Wet dog, salty popcorn butter, and compost. In the flavor, hops are able to climb through a little more, but only as a piney bitterness. The hop cheese smoothes out a little, but still perks up in the finish. Hops are fine, I guess, but I really don’t have any interest in considering them amongst the weird stale hop disaster. Without much hop flavor, this seems needlessly bitter, considering that the malt isn’t really keeping up with the unbalanced bitterness.

In a re-calibration of my palate, I’m coming to learn that cheesy, stale, high co-humulone iso-valeric hops create a sensation for me that I had been miscorrectly identifying as diacetyl, which I still cannot, apparently taste. This beer has some funky stale cheese hops going on and I mis-interpreted that. Much less of a brewing flaw than the incorrectly identified diacetyl problem. Re-scored.

WOW! Courtesy Paiste2002, thanks man! Great IPA. Another reason I wish I lived on the west coast. Aroma was perfect. Strong grassy hops fill the nose. One of the best aromas I’ve encountered in a beer. Pour was perfect as well. A nice light gold with a one finger off white head. A great IPA is truly pale. Light in color and this is just that. Taste was also great. Strong in the hops with little malt to muddy the water. Strong bitter hops that dry the mouth with strong grassiness with just a hint of citrus. Decent carbonation. Please CA people. Send me more!!