Russian River IPA

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

On tap at Stone; very solid and good sessional beer. Amber in color, with aroma of pine and citrus and caramel. Flavor is pretty much the same, with some noticable orange flavors.

Super pine and citrus aroma. Pours hazy orange with a brown hue. Intense pine sappiness. Light in body, not alot of malt. Mostly bitter and not really balanced at all. But in an IPA to me that is good! The sample I had was extremely carbonated. As it warms, some toasty malt comes though but hops are lingering and resiny. Pretty good stuff.

Sampled May 2007 on tap at Stone World Bistro & Gardens
Pours with a lightly hazy, amber-copper color and is topped by a frothy, amber-hued, tan colored head that starts out about one-finger in height. A punchy, fresh hop aroma greets my nose; lots of citrus fruit aromatics (grapefruit, lychee, tangelo, and a hint of peach), but also a touch of sharper herbal, pine, grassy and a hint of hop-reek (a sort of mix of chive, herb and something from a softer version of hops nearest cousin).

The beer is served quite cold, which really accentuates the pine and herbal notes. This leads to a sharp, biting bitterness that wraps up into a crisp, cool finish. The finish has a hint of caramel malt to it, but it is mostly dry. This is not nearly as floral and citrusy as the nose would suggest, yet these notes are still there in the background; notes of bergamot and grapefruit meld with an underlying malt character that is just noticeable under the aggressive hop character. Certainly a hop bomb, no punches were pulled with the aggressive hop character. This beer has a nice heft to it, though it is perhaps a touch over-carbonated (this and the cold are a knock against Stone where it is served though); it is very drinkable, yet has enough malt to coat the palate just a bit.

It is interesting that the aged version of this beer leans more towards the citrus flavors, but I can see why a two year old version was still so vibrantly hoppy. This is even more aggressively hop balanced than Pliney the Elder. When enjoyed with a bruschetta BLT, the sandwich brings out a bit more of the citrus character.
3.9/9/4/7/4/15

2005 Release, Sampled May 2007 at the Stuffed Sandwich
A two year-old IPA, let’s see about this. This beer is quite hazy with an orangish tinged, copper color. It is topped by a frothy, two-finger thick, light tan colored head. The aroma is still quite pungently hoppy, but has some mixed in notes of aged malt as well; notes of pine and citrus (orange, ruby-red grapefruit and tangelo are noticeable) are definitely muted, but still quite noticeable. An aged malt character fades in the aroma after a bit, but other notes of toasted grain, biscuits, crackers and a touch of orange scented sherry are noticeable.

Punchy hop flavors are noticeable up front; leaning towards citrus, but with a backdrop of herbal pine. Notes of bergamot, tangerine, and lemon peel are all found in the finish. There is a medium, malt accented body that helps to stick to the palate, but ultimately the hops with a large bitterness, dry the beer out in the finish. This really still has quite a solid bitterness to it. The hops have clearly faded over time, so take my descriptions here in check, but the hops are still quite a bit more vibrant than I was expecting. This is still very nice, but still tastes a bit aged round the edges; malt and hops have dulled a bit.
3.7/7/4/7/4/15

Draught at the brewery. Beer is clear, medium caramel-brown with a small, white, frothy, mostly and quickly diminishing head.<P>Malty with light notes of toasted grain, biscuit; Moderate hop notes of resin/pine, grapefruit oil, light notes of citrus zest and tea; Yeasty with a trace note basement/damp cement.<P>The flavor is moderately/heavily sweet, moderately/heavily bitter, lightly acidic with a long, moderately sweet, lightly building-to-moderately bitter finish.<P>The body is medium, the texture is watery and the carbonation is lively.

On tap at Stone. Clear golden amber with big fluffy white head. Big hoppy aroma of citrus, pine, and hemp. Really well balanced taste between the malt and hops with a clean finish. Very good.

Whoops!...rookie mistake--the aroma is OUT OF 10....not 5! Draft at the Toronado at SF. Great aroma (as are most IPAs). I’m not the biggest IPA drinker, but brews like this one might bring me around--not too hoppy...just right with a stealthy bitter aftertaste. While I was drinking this one, our bartender threw a guy out on the sidewalk. I’m definitely going back!

Draft at O’Brians. A damn fine IPA I must say. Pretty standard appearance, nice one-finger fluffy white head and transparent light gold. I was very impressed with the aroma, a huge nose of fresh pine, grapefruit and other citrus notes. Well-balanced hop profile in the flavor, the bitterness is complemented quite well with a lighter, crisper finish on the palate. An excellent west coaster, but I definitely appreciate the Elder more.

Draft at the brewpub. Amber with a thin white head. cirtic hop aroma. Hops dominate, but malt is ample and provides some balance. Long, palate coating hop finish.