Sweetwater IPA

Brewed by Sweetwater Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Atlanta, Georgia USA

Bottle. Very nice aroma of grapefruit, mango, and oranges. Palate is nice but a little thin. Flavor is well balanced between the fruity hops and malt.

The I.P.A. is decent, but in no way does this beer deserve and 93 overall rating. I was looking at others who have sampled this beer, and everyone is from the Eastern part of the country. The fact of the matter is that you can taste other beers in this one. What I mean is drink a Sweetwater Blue, or a Sweetwater Hummer and you will taste the IPA in all of these beers. I believe that this brewery is having a difficult time giving each beer its own personal and unique flavor. The color was great! A dark golden brown color. The palate was also very nice, a thick IPA that goes down smooth. The beer tasted a little watered down at time but was thick at others, and the head was in no way worth describing. The taste was unique, and not too pleasing. I don’t want to float on the mainstream too much longer!

12 oz bottle, best by date 03/05/07 (I’m just in time, apparently). Thanks to LooseCannon for this. Served in a shaker glass. Golden orange with a slight white head. Nose is very piney, a fir Christmas tree comes to mind. Some nice orange and grapefruit notes. Very smooth bitter flavor, biscuity malt and pine, but not a thick, resiny pine - a cleaner, lighter pine. Some cirtus flavors come in for the finish. Well balanced and crazy drinkable - really like this one!

12 oz bottle. Pours hazy amber color with small white head. Aroma of floral and pine hops. Taste of malt and hops with bitter after taste.

Rerate; had this when I first started on ratebeer. Really great aroma; grapefruit component was very nice. Probably like the flavor even more than last time. Just well balanced. Hop usage and the amount of sweetness almost perfectly done. Malt backbone ties everything together. Palate was fantastic as before. Upped from 3.9 to 4. Really good for the style. (Bottle brought up to VA by kleyland. Poured an orange amber; medium creamy white head. Aroma was great; citrus, some pine, crisp and sweet. Flavor was not overwhelmingly hoppy; pretty good malt balance. The beer is very refreshing, but still very flavorful. One of the better India pale ales I have had.)

Bottle (12oz). Thanks to blankboy for this one. Slightly cloudy amber with an average white head - looks like it should. Ah, that’s the stuff - classic resin hop-hit with some light grain and citrus to back it up, a little bit of malt, but this is about the hops. Taste is straight on hops, lots of sharp resin, quite a follow-up of UK-type funky/acidic hops, and a little light grain to sew it together. Light and chewy body, very astringent, light acidity and carbonation, a decent pithy bitterness on the back of the palate - solid IPA, nice and hoppy but not a monster.

This poured with an orange copper color. Very floral and a light piny aroma with maybe a little spice. Flavor was very florally and hoppy. Pretty good overall for an ipa but i think i prefer the citrusy hops. Also a little sweet.

Aroma and appearance are wonderful. Nice orange amber profile, nice head, greate nose of grapefruitty hops, some grassiness intertwined. The mouthfeel and overall taste are a lot lighter than I like. For now, however, the best IPA brewed in GA (since big Hoppy doesn’t really count).