St. George India Pale Ale

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

Not as good as it looked. Sweet malts not balanced with over hopped flavor. I do not recommend.

My Bottom Line:
Spicy, peppery hops are engulfed in caramel and bready malt sweetness before a delicate earthy hop bitterness closes this chewy, balanced India Pale Ale.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A thin slice of foam stays atop the clear copper.
-The nose is not that hoppy, which might disappoint those looking for a boastful pint of Americana.
-The body is just as plump as their malt-laden Pilsner, which I like.
-This is not an IPA for the extroverted hop lover, but it remains a decent session ale nonetheless.

Bottle.

Bottle purchased 11/07 in Winchester, VA. Appearance: I found the look in the glass to be the best part of the experience. A nice amber tone with a head that starts thick before thinning out fairly quickly. The nose, however, began a swift decline in my experience of this offering. The word that kept coming to mind was "amateur." The aroma was 2-dimensional -- hops and burnt sugar. That’s about all. The taste left no doubt about the unfortunate over-hopping of this one, but not by an experienced hand. It made me think that this is what "hop tea" would be like. There were also notes of grass, salt water, and a bit of caramel to go along with the hop party. The palate was bone dry, yeasty, with an unfortunate soapy aftertaste. Overall: Nice try. Don’t call this an IPA, because it’s really not. It’s more along the lines of an experiment in hop tea, really. I suppose I expected it to be something else. I will say that it’s better with food than on its own, but with so many great IPAs out there, why waste time with an amateur? No thanks.

12oz bottle courtesy of eaglefan538. Malted spice aroma odd for an ipa. Copper body with off white head. Flavor had a lot of spice and some mild citrus hop in the background. Palateable beer and now have to watch the Cowgals get trounsed by the Packers.

Pours a pale orange with a fair amount of white head. Aroma is hoppy. Flavor is bold, strongly metallic, with lots of grapefruit bitterness. Lingering aftertaste and a moderately heavy mouthfeel. A good IPA, but I’m not much of a fan of IPAs...

Grassy, feety, aroma of thistle. Amber color, medium off white head. More grainy than hoppy. A good beer, but suspect IPA credentials. Sufficiently bitter, but not really derived from the hops. Ash and lemon grass fiinish. Wanting in citrus flavors, but enjoyabkle. On a side note, I have now sampled all but one of this brewer’s offerings and just this week realized they are only about 5 miniutes from my house. I’m going to see if they are hiring. I hope they don’t hold any poor ratings against me.

Thanks to ucusty for this. Pour is a deep orange with a small white head that quickly dissapates.Aroma is pretty nice...floral and citrusy. Maybe a bit of mango. Hop flavor and malts go together well and beer finishes slightly bitter. Easy drinker, but a bit thin.

Bottle: Pours a transparent bright copper with a nicely-lacing off-white head. Aroma of fresh, grapefruity, piny hops and some sweet, brown sugary caramel malt. Body starts with decent viscosity, but more dark sugary character than full maltiness. Has a fairly fresh, earthy grapefruity bittering hoppy presence toward a crisp bittersweet finish. A decent IPA.