Russian River Blind Pig IPA

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

Bottle from CelticBrew, thanks for this Jim!! Clear gold pour under a big foamy white head that settles to a 1/8" layer that lasts and lasts, leaving a fine, filmy lace. Huge citrus hop aroma with doses of spruce, honey , and even some light fruit. Medium body and lightly carbonated, resinous, but surprisingly smooth and even silky. Hops come on quickly, like chewing grapefruit rind, with some toffee like sweetness for support. An outstanding IPA in the best of West Coast style.

Bottle from Liquor Mart in Boulder. Pours a hazy gold with super-fine suspended sediment and a fluffy, pitted, white head, and patchy lace. The nose is outstanding: a beautiful blend of "juicy" citric and mildly resinous hops and a candy sugar-like supporting malt note. Medium-bodied and tongue-coating with a significant bitter hopped finish. Citrus hops hug your tongue along with just enough malt sweetness to keep the hops from destroying your palate. The finish is a nice, lingering, slightly resinous, bitter/hoppy parade across the back of your tongue. This is a damned fine IPA. I wish we could get it locally.

Bottled sample via (and shared with) oakbluff. Gold in colour with medium carbonation. Loads of hops upfront in the nose, with floral, white grapefuit, and white pepper notes, along with some mild pale malt notes in the background. The hops are, once again, front and centre in the mouth. White grapefuit, flowers, a bit of earth dominate, with a bit more malt coming through mid-sip before a final kick of sweet orange. Solid bitterness. A very good IPA.

Bottle thanks to AgentSteve. Big white head atop this dark golden gem. Big pine and citurs nose. Flavor is huge on hops with a mild backing of malt. Really need to chew through these hops, but I didn’t want it to end.

On-tap at Toronado 2/17/08. Pours a honey yellow color, frothy white head, some lace. Smells grassy hoppy, I didn’t think it was all that complex but I could be wrong. Tastes grassy, hoppy bitter. A bit resiny. Mouthfeel is thin, carbonation is somewhat subdued. Not as good as the Pliny’s but a good consolation prize.

Bottle via trade with Stefanje. Pours a slightly hazed dark yellow/gold. Sticky white head. Nose is a bit sweet and fruity, I get stone fruits, mango, a light resin note and some minor dank. Taste is a fruity burst of apricot and then pine that drops into a nice crunchy bitterness and finishes dry and smooth, begging for more sips. Definitely tasty, a little fizzy in the mouthfeel department. Overall pretty nice.

Crushed with Jakebra and Honkeybra. Bottled 1/19/08. Was worried hops were dead. Huge nose, but not as much flavor. Still pretty damn good. Very, very thin bodied. Rerate, bottle 11-19-08. Same awesome nose. Flavor is much nicer, floral, bitter, and awesome. Absolutely a top IPA. Dug it much more fresh, naturally.

From the tap poured a golden color with a fair amount of head. Nice tart flavor almost grapefruit with a lingering finish.