Russian River Blind Pig IPA

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

Small tan head, good retention with a nice stringy lace left behind. Hazy gold with a light copper hue. Big ol hop nose, pine, earth, grass and grapefruit with soft malt backing. Body is med/full, chewy, resiny and coating on the palate. Strong hop flavors, grapefruit, pine and sosme cedar notes. Faint maltiness, fairly dry, lightly toasty from what i can find under the serious hop blanket. Dry, citrusy biggass hop finish, lingering lovingly, bite. A manly IPA for sure. Props to cloudskipper for the bottle!

[Cask at O’Brien’s] Poured a lightly hazy, copper color with a medium sized, off white head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of citrus fruits, pine resin, floral hops and faint malts as well. Taste was super, tangerine and other citrus fruits, more pine and a strong grapefruit bitterness. The IBUs are incredible on this one.

<!-- !-- i -- -->Draught at Lucky Baldwins, Pasadena<!-- !-- /i -- --><!-- !-- br -- -->Had this beer during the IPA festival. Slightly hazy, golden orange color. Thick, dense, rocky, lasting head. Huge bouquet of hops, smells like mostly Amarillo. Great hop flavor with only a slight acrid tang. Very smooth palate and finish.

Bottle:   Very pale golden, moreso a darker straw, moderate to large frothy white head, nice lacing, light carbonation.   Big strong floral hop aroma.   Some citrus rind, very faint earthiness/soil.   Tangy and tart on the tongue.   Certainly hoppy but not overly biting.   Bark is harsher than the bite, so to speak.   Very flavorful.   Body and mouthfeel are moderate to full.   Finishes long, lingering hop smoothness with hints of soil and rind.   Liked this one more than all their other examples.

Draught at Brickskeller in DC: The lighting in Brickskeller sucks, so my appearance comments may not be accurate. I did the best I could in the conditions. I was lucky to get a pint of this immediately folowing a pint of the IPA, so I could contrast the two. Moderately hazy golden yellow with a definite bronze-orange tinted body. Medium white head that is somewhat foamy and does have quite the retention of their plain IPA (though it’s still nothing to scoff at). The aroma has more pungent citrus hops than the IPA (which is more pine/grass), but there’s still the usual subjects of pine and floral hops with a tiny hint of sweet malt in here that seemes to almost have a bit of dry caramel, almost like munich malt. The taste has mostly bitter citrus hops at first, with some light pine and floral hops as well, but the more citrus and grapefruit flavors are backed up with a sweeter malt base than the IPA. Towards the middle one can actually taste just a hint of malt (sweet pale malt, not grainy, with a faint tough of caramel). Finish is dry (not a surprise from RR), crisp, and has plenty of lingering hops. Medium bodied, moderate-medium carbonation, dry but showing some signs of malty sweetness. I really enjoyed the presence, if faint, of the small amount of flavorful malt in this.

On tap at hollingshead deli in Orange, CA This brew has a nice golden color with an outstanding hop aroma. Hoppy up front with a smooth finish. This is a very nice IPA. I’d highly recommend it.

Well hot damn, I hadnt heard anything about this and was remarkably surprised when having it. Draught pint at PP Carlsbad on 3/24/07 while waiting in line for pizza.
Very nice pale-golden body has a hint of straw and a medium amount of white head. Slight chill-haze, modestly carbonated.
Damn! That’s a dry and very nicely dry-hopped aroma. No malt to speak of, or rather, none that gets in the way of the hops. Clear and brisk lemon-lime, with even a hint of spiciness, followed by dry, but not overly acidic grapefruit. Some light pale malts provide a hint of sweetness, for balance, akin to powdered sugar atop nectarines (mixing with the hops), with a pinch of some biscuit notes. The rest is just pure aromatic, dry-hopped heaven, very fresh, crisp and in your face, though not overdone on acidity. Light herbal notes, with stronger wintergreen and dry melon. Phew, that’s nice!
Perfectly attenuated, with malt left for a smooth texture, but only minimal, lightly crisp, grainy flavors. More nectarine, lychee, lemon, grapefruit and soft pine on the finish. Tight carbonation for a draught beer, leads to an almost creamy mouthfeel which further helps balance the very dry nature of the beer. Dry, yellow fruitiness lingers on, with melon and lychee. Just delicious stuff and incredibly drinkable for its dryness. No alcohol or flaws, of course. Great restraint on the bitterness/acidity.

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.