Seven Bridges Toll Tender IPA

7B new recipe for their IPA is distinctly more American vs. the previous recipe which was closer to an English version. Pours medium gold to light copper, very clear with a lingering white head. Aroma is very citrusy cascade with lower malt. Inital taste is somewhat bitter with the malt coming in a bit late. The aroma hops finish the beer nicely. The finish is really dry. I was amazed when Eric told me both IPAs had the same OG. This IPA is definitely more hop forward than its predecessor, which was more malt forward. A great beer.

Tap @ brewpub. pours copper, thin beige head. Aroma, malty, some hops, caramel nose. Flavor, spicy hops with citrus, lemon and graepfruit, some caramel malt, hints of bread/doughy, with a light bitter finish and balanced with some malt. Might have some yeasty elements in the finish.

Had the draught and cask versions. Orange amber with a moderate foamy off-white head. Aroma is slightly floral. A rich belgiany yeast flavor, something approaching sour, more noticeably on teh draught version. Can this be going off? Still decent. Not overly hoppy, but a nice lingering bitterness. Slightly sweet, lacks a real hop bite. Cask version is creamier with a slightly more floral hoppy character overall.

Regular version
Kind of ugly - hazy dull amber. Aroma is mostly fruity hop. Fresh, fruity flavour. A little thin on the malts but it’s tasty enough. Score for this version only.

Cask, dry-hopped with cascade
This was woodier and spicier than the regular Toll Tender, and drier in the finish. Thus, I found it more well-rounded and generally more enjoyable. 3-7-7-4-14 = 3.5

Deep amber-copper with slight haze and beige head. Minty and fruity and floral all at once in the nice hempy aroma. Good juicy, quaffable mouthfeel. Balanced beer with a nice sweet malt backbone, peachy esters, then a nice herbal hop character to boot.


Cascade IPA (the Toll Tender dry-hopped with Cascades). Same color as the regular brew, a coppery-amber with slight haze. Not appreciably different from the regular IPA, but earthier. Equally juicy and quaffable without any hint of chalk or chew. Like it.

Third to show up for the Seven Bridges showdown is their Toll Tender IPA. Yum! An IPA is just what the doctor ordered after the lackluster pilsner before. Something crisp, bitter, citric, piney, sappy, and full of enough hop presence to grab my tongue in her grip and never let go is exactly what the doctor ordered. Maybe I’m building my anticipation up a bit too much, lest I find myself disappointed twice in a row. As I raise my glass, I dream of hop fields and pine trees.
My Toll Tender IPA comes to me cloudy amber and copper red with a little head of soft rose tinged puffs. She disappears quickly, leaving no evidence behind and refuses to come out for further play. Always in search of a delicious IPA, I raise my glass to partake of her nose first. Sticky sweet citrus and fruits; orange, nectarine, and lemon are backed up by toasted bread. An average nose where nothing really grabs me; the hops are there, but nothing impressively prominent. Looking to find more, I go in for the kill. Soft, effervescent, and sweet with very little noticeable hotness to speak of in the beginning. Instead, Toll Tender is sticky, sappy, viscous, and immediately coats all open surfaces within my mouth. All the sweet and sticky fruits I smelled dance across my tastebuds along with notes of honey. As I delve further into her sticky depths, the honey moves further up front while the citrus take a few steps back. No lingering hop bitterness or bite to speak of. Not as disappointing as the pilsner, but a bit too sweet and sticky. Personally, I could use more bitter zing.
Toll Tender IPA is sticky and wet with hop oils, but just a little too sweet. Maybe that was her intention, but extra sweet usually isn’t what I look for in an IPA. If the sweetness was more subdued while the sticky pine oils and citric notes were in front, Toll Tender would be perfect.

I had three beers at the Seven Bridges brewpub, and all three coincidentally are within a point of one another. I didn’t realize that until I started entering these ratings from my little notebook. This draught beer arrived at the table a clear copper with a moderate off-white head that lasted through mid-glass and left nice lace. Mild aroma of malt, pine, and a bit of grapefruit. The flavor is malt up front, followed by medium pine and grapefruit to a lesser extent. A bit restrained for an IPA.

on tap-pours a light tan head and amber color. Taste has some bite. A nice beginner IPA. Nice. Dry hopped on hand pump pours a retaining light tan head and hazy amber color. Aroma is mild citrus/pine hops. Taste is mild citrus/pine hops, secondary medium malt. Minimum carbonation. A mellower and mustier version.