Southampton India Pale Ale

Brewed by Southampton Publick House
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Southampton, New York USA

12oz Bottle. Salted popcorn and wild plants, with some resin. Soft. Pours in the orange-amber spectrum, with silken off-white foam. Moves right in as a generic lemon bitterness, then heavy on the grasses. A swath of ten day old christmas tree and watered down caramel-apple blaze through. Dry, balanced and sensible. Spicy in a 1950s kind of way. Reads as a mix between English and American styles. Great long smack in amalgamated citrus peels. Fresh. Good malt balancing. Rides a little harshly bitter though and not accentuating the hop flavors, but nothing to cry home about.

Pours a five finger light brown head that fades very slowly leaving a good lace. Almost clear amber color. Light-medium carbonation and medium bodied. Citrus/fruit hop nose. Flavor is hoppy but it is muted for an IPA. Grapefruit finish. Lingering bitter aftertaste. $1.55 for a 12oz bottle from Colonial Spirits Acton, MA.

In short: A standard American IPA. Inoffensively drinkable
How: Bottle 12oz and tap at Holy Smoke BBQ, Mahopac, NY
The look: Clear copper body with a long-lasting medium off-white head
In long: Nose is ripe citrus, perfumy, orange notes and a little soapy. Malt sweetness is half honey half caramel. Body is soft with an overall cotton-candy feeling. Bitterness is mild but sharp. A little soapy with a light cleaning product flavour but not enough to be bothersome. Well balanced. Medium carbonation. Better on tap Ɠ.3) than in 12oz bottle Ɠ.0). A very drinkable standard american IPA that doesn’t bring anything new to the table. It’s the waiter’s job to do that.

Shared a six-pack of these over an extended Go lesson with a friend of mine. A very enjoyable, well balanced brew. Long-lasting head, sticky palate. I’ll buy more of these.

Semi dulled peachy browned honey color. Very dense and large capping of thickly frothy and clothy foam sits on top which keeps a finger high intensity the whole glass through. Very impressive. Sticky shelves of lacing have the appeal of scattered/tattered sheets. An awesome eye of an ale! Softly pine sided aroma; clean, round, and woody. Notes of wet wood, green fresh hops, and some dullish old lemon and grapefruit. Taste is nice balanced and favorable towards a more malty side then big on the hops. The malt backing is dead on yummy and complex as hell with a nice tone intertwining a nice mix of crystal, pale, biscuit, and caramel malts. Soft on the tongue up front, fluffy back end of hop texture adding nice bittering pinches of grapefruit and orange. The hoppyness is leafy and fresh with a very clean nature and easy going bite that screams drink me! Solid medium body, nice texture and tone and change about its character. Kinda quite and subtle, soft and supple, with a nice flavor profile that sticks with you. The malts in the back are quite amazing to me. Well done IPA here! It’s no hop bomb monster. It’s subtle play and soft alluring complexity is damn solid and very nice to behold.

Bottle. Pours a hazy dark orange coloured body with a soft creamy white head, medium in size. Pleasant, mostly straightforward aroma consisting of some fragrant orange, light potpourri, and biscuit. Flavour-wise you get hit with a little bit of alcohol bite and warmth. There’s also some nice orangey juiciness and caramel sweetness. Finishes long with some grapefruit bitterness.
Bought at Beers of the World in Rochester in the Fall of 2007.

My Bottom Line:
This balanced American IPA provides plenty of resinous, citrusy hoppiness within carefully honeyed cereals. This is not the most idiosyncratic IPA out there, but it sure delivers that expected hop fix.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam tops the golden amber.
-Orangey fruitness and wooden dryness also seep out of the hoppiness.
-The body is comfortably chewy and carbonation appropriately lively.
-Drinkability is optimal and flavors remain vibrant while never aggressive.

On tap at Holy Smoke BBQ, in Mahopac, NY.

12-5-07 bottle shared with lb4lb thanks to davehoward.
One word... soap! Light floral hops aroma. Orange amber color with a fluffy head. Grainy bitter flavor. Dry and overly soapy for me. Very average to me.