Russian River Blind Pig IPA

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

12 oz. bottle @ liquid sunshine - thanks bitbucket; while I was a little underwhelmed by this at the brewery, a bottle a few weeks later really knocked me out; pours dark amber and mostly clear; huge aromas of sweet pine hops and citrus; smooth and bitter, but never overwhelming; a little chewy and syrupy; wow, a great IPA

500mL. Bottled on 070908. Excellent balance of citrus, pine and a rustic woodsiness on the nose. Cedar. Mint. Dried cannabis. A touch of dried grass and dirt. Solid chewy, but not fat, malt backbone. Pours a glowing, bright clear copper with a sticky white head. Toasted malt and resiny hops intermingle quite nicely on the tongue. Minty, earthy, grassy. Plenty hoppy for sure. More cedar, grapefruit rind. Mild peachy and apricot notes. Herbal, floral and piny. Lively, spritzy and firm on the tongue. Oily hops linger but the malt comes in to play as well. The finish is gloriously hoppy and earthy that lasts forever. Thanks Brian!

Pure pine tree aroma, a touch of citrus, taste is spicey hops, pine hops big on hop bitterness,bitterness lingers on in a heavenly fashion,maybe a touch thin,excellent bitter IPA,Thanks Kingpin

Pours a hazy orange. Nice piney hop aroma with sweet malt to balance. Citrusy hops on the flavor and good malt presence. Extremely well-rounded. Medium body, dry finish. A little toned down relative to Pliny the Elder, but as they say in NorCal, hella good.

Bottled 07/09/08. A misty apricot orange and a thin whitecap. Resinous and wet cannabis and lychee rind aroma; grassy, bitter and herbal; a gorgeously damp sagebrush and citrus rind hoppiness with a sparse dusting of pepper. Perfect hop character, and a calm sweetness of almond and cotton candy and sugar cookies. It’s pretty and pristine.

An abrasive pinecone bitterness intimates a sharp edge in the immediate flavor; it hits with a violent crunch, like a sudden waft of wet pine smoke in the throat. Softly, a smooth fruitiness of apricots, pears, and tangerines lends a perfectly complimentary brightness and sweetness, and it stays almost totally settled on this sunny orchard sensation; the bitterness is pure pine and hemp, lingering on grapefruit only for a moment, before those glowing sweet citrus and stone fruit oils wash over. Freshest hops. As it warms, some wildflower honey and doughy malt presents, calmly, and cleanly; it’s inarguably impressive how well-drawn the hop and malt characters are individually, and how beautifully they bleed into each other as the beer unfolds.

Soft, medium palate, lightly sticky with resins and floral honey. Gentle carbonation. Finish is green herbal bitterness, of cannabis, pine, and sage, just lightly vegetal. While it’s perfectly refreshing and its hop presence is so attractive and forceful, it gets just lightly astringent with raw greenness and celery crunch at the very end, and so it must remain as a world-class, if not highest peak, example. Thanks Ty!

re/rate. On tap @ the brewery. Nice hoppiness to it with a good balance of malt. Quite clean and crisp.

bottle. thanks to drewbeerme for bringing this by on this dreary saturday afternoon.... pours a hazy light orange with a thin circular soapy white head.... citrusy grapefruit nose that is pretty assertive which i found to be pretty nice....flavors are citrusy with some grass and a nice dry bitter finish.

Crushed with JakeBra and CaryTheDude. Nose is amazing. Huge, herbal, grassy, citrus hops. Flavor is a bit subdued, perhaps from the age of the beer. Great nonetheless.