Scuttlebutt Gale Force IPA

Brewed by Scuttlebutt Brewing Co.
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Everett, Washington USA

Hazed amber, creamy light tan head. Upon warming, nose held tones of florals, black tea, citrus, toffee and bread. Nice complexity for a low abv IPA. Flavor was similar with a bold citrus and floral snap up front, yet was nicely textured over smooth caramel malt notes. Medium bodied, soft carbonation, bitter dry finish. A pleasant surprise for this hophead. Would make for a good session brew...

Bottle... Murky, golden ale with a mid-sized, rocky, eggshell head. Excellent, creamy retention. Breadsy aroma with lots of orange pekoe and black tea. A whisper of lemon and sassafrass. Intensely bitter flavor with no hint of malty sweetness. Some grapefruit and lemon rind. Medium bodied and fizzy. Finishes bitter, astringent and dry. Too heavy on the hops and too light on the malt. Thanks go out to Scraff for sharing his bottle!

Bright orange pour with off-white head. Aromas of Grapefruit on the nose. Hops all over the place with not a lot of balance to with malt. Finish is all hops

(22 oz bottle: Purchased at the brewery) If I were to fight Mike Tyson in some dark alley, he would beat me to a bloody pulp. That’s what’s going on here. Just too much "C" hops in this beer for me. It’s mildly bready initially, but the strongly bitter and strongly grapefruity hops takes over very quickly and just pummels the malts into submission, leaving it bleeding on the street. I don’t know how this can only be 45 IBUs; the hops just continue to build and build, even on just a single sip, and by late in the long-lasting finish, this is pretty harsh on the palate. The nose is a bit more balanced, but not grabbing me the way an IPA usually does. Medium bodied, but what more can I say about how this feels on the palate. Amber in color with a lot of suspended dandruff in the beer. The light-tan head pours to over a finger’s width, and though it settles to a wide ring, it leaves an abundance of beautiful lacing on the glass.

From the bottle

Pours a fairly-clear amber orange with an ample soapy head.

The aroma is grapefruit peel and rising bread; the flavor is strong bitter hops, not so floral as outright bitter, coupled with dark smoky - almost burnt - malts. The mouthfeel is nice, not highly carbonated, and it goes down relatively easy leaving a long and enjoyable bitter afterbite.

Still, this is not one of the world-beating IPAs out there. The strong hop bitterness lacks the balance of flavors that you get in some other (even more bitter) beers, e.g. the offerings from Stone. (I agree with a previous reviewer who finds this substantially more bitter than the 45 IBUs indicate.)

12oz bottle. Orange gold color. Medium sized white foamy head. Aroma is citrus and orange. A medium bodied IPA. Malts are orange and fruity. Hops are grapefruity, floral and piney. A big citrusy IPA. A touch harsh and crisp perhaps. Solid. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and crisp. Aftertaste is bitter.

Clouded orangey appearance, lively pour. Tangerine, lemon aroma, mild earthiness. Lighter in body, plenty of grapefruit bitterness throughout, milder sweet citrus underneath. A good bitter, lighter bodied IPA.

12oz bottle. Rich, toasted bread and sour orange aroma, fuesal alcohol noticed, along with a burnt caramel malt aroma. Flavor is almost identical to the nose: burnt caramel malts, caustic citrus, and fuesal notes similar to a homebrew. Definitely has a twang. The palate is a bit too undeveloped, just harsh hops with no balance.