St. George India Pale Ale

Brewed by St. George Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Hampton, Virginia USA

12 oz bottle. Clear golden pour with an off white head. Nose is fruity and sweet, with a candylike quality - almost like a Jolly Rancher. Initally, the taste is malty with hops laid over the top. A bit of warming, and the citrusy fruity flavors come through, all with the dry crack of the hops in the finish. Fills the mouth cleanly, snaps off the tongue. Not your typical west coast IPA, for sure, but with a drinkability most only wish for.

Not a bad beer by any stretch of the imagination...but not amazing either. Pours a deep rich golden hue. Honestly the picture on the website here really does it justice. Very similiar. Head lingers. Nose is excellent. I’m not the biggest fan of very dry yeast. There is a pronounced english cleanness to some of these east coast beers that I just can’t enjoy all that much. Nose is massive. Giant and fruity. At first a very round lemon zest smalcks your nostrils. This dies off into a dry lunch meat smell that although not great isn’t detracting from the beer. Apricots and lunchmeat...mmm. On the tongue this beer really pops. A claen ale yeast and even cleaner bitterness is welcoming. This is a very woody IPA. Elements of beer attribute to this. Malts are slightly cardboardy but make up for that with a nice sweetness. Hops are slightly piney but really only clash with the cardboardy malts, leaving the drinker with a bitter earthy flavor that lies flat against a log of malts. Ehhh...NOt a bad brew. GREAT mouthfeel. Full and rich. G

Bottle: Courtesy of The_Beer_God via trade. Aroma is very malty with lots of caramel, cookie, and light apricot. Pours a transparent amber with a very nice off-white head with decent retention. Decent lacing. Very malty up front. Lots of caramel up front with some fruitiness in the middle. Finishes moderately hoppy with citrus and flowers. I prefer the West Coast style IPA’s, but this was pretty good.

Bottle, OBX, NC. Don’t love IPA’s as the recent trend is to super hop them. Great strong amber copper coloring, malty to the taste and finished with a fine Fuggles hopping that make this a particularly drinkable and enjoyable IPA. Well done!

bottled, copper hue and a good head. floral hops aroma, medium bodied. slight bitter finish.

Pours amber with a one-finger head. Medium lacing. Soapy hop aroma, some pine. Very well-balanced flavor, but the alcohol comes through a bit too much (surprising, I know, for a 5% IPA). The hop flavor is different from most IPAs—more of that soapiness.

Enjoyed at The Knight’s Arms Tavern inWilliamsburg, VA. Orange/copper hue under a strong, thick white head. Pleasant aromas of grapefruit, orange and pine are noted. Initial flavor is of sweet caramel malt and toasted bread followed by a pleasing mild citrus presence sneaking in. A moderate amount of bittereness in the finish. Seems very much more American style IPA than Brit to me, but went very well with a game meat pie.

Copper amber body with a short tan head and pretty good lacing. Aroma was pine/citrus with more sweet malts than hops. Sweet malty medium thick body, thinner at the finish; nice hop bitterness and smooth. Easy to find in beverage stores around OBX (June 2005)