Russian River IPA

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

First sampled on tap at Lucky Baldwin’s IPA Festival ’07. Clear, bright copper-orange-gold with a fine, creamy off-white head. Full hops aroma profile with herbaceous grassy notes up front and pine needles following. The flavor is dry with no malt sweetness. Clean, fresh hops flavors of grass, herbs, and orange rind. Posesses a straightforward bitterness that leaves a satisfying, clean-cut finish. The body is extremely smooth and conveys the bitterness superbly--it glides across the tongue giving the impression of lightness yet it is quite substantive nonetheless with a good, clean malt presence without any malty sweetness. Superb.

On Tap at the BP Clear medium light orange amber. Small sandy head and clingy lacing. Sweet citrusy aroma and the flavor is more piney and woody. Hops and big bitterness are more than a match for their malt counterparts. Long late big bitter trailer. Modrate palate.

Date: 11/30/2006
Mode: Draft
Source: O’Brien’s

clear amber, thin fine off white head, light hop aroma on a slightly sweet malt aroma, bitter hop flavor, no distinguishing character

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 11/20
Rating: 3/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: *4

tap: nearly clear orange. Aroma is strong PNW hops... lots of grapefruit, pine and citrus. Medium bodied, moderate bitterness. Extremely clean and well made, but nothing made it stand out among the west coast pack.

draft. had this one following the stone ipa and definitely suited my palate much better. the pine is toned down comparatively and allows the citrus flavors of the hops to come through. malt flavoring comes through as well which is nice to see in an ipa. strangely i even tasted an extremely light chocolate bitter in the background. it has quite active carbonation which helped to balance the flavors. extremely drinkable. a great ipa.

Peachy, sunny aroma, some light esters. Nicely balanced flavor, more peachiness. Nice stuff, very juicy. Punchy, well-carbonated finish.

On Tap - PP Solana. Ah what to say, what to say - all these west coasters are blendin together a bit eh? Fresh, sharp, and crisp - more pine than citrus.... nice and rereshing, can’t complain! Unless of course they have Pliny the Elder on tap right next to it, then of course I’d be complaining that you’re ordering the wrong beer! Elder rules.

Sampled at Russian River in mid-June 2007. Clear golden copper with a white head. Citrusy, medium-intensity PacNW hop aroma. The flavor is a mix of toasty caramel, citrus/grapefruit/cascade hops. Like the aroma, the flavor was of medium intensity. Has a full, round body with moderate carbonation level. Solid.