Terrapin India Style Brown Ale

12oz. Bottle. Rich dark mahogany color with very little head. Huge floral hop aroma that I wasn’t expecting with notes of grapefruit and pine and some background hints of chocolate and malt sugar. Complex taste with noticeable tropical hop flavor characteristics and a slightly roasted grain flavor in the background. Also has notes of toasted, biscuit and chocolate malts with an underlying spicy bitterness. Body is on the thin side with a medium level of carbonation, but I think it suits the IPA character of this beer well. Goes out with a dry and acidic bitter kick. Definitely leans toward the IPA side. I’m a big fan of this one, a very solid session beer.

Brown and filtered. Nose is very hoppy-not much malt or sweetness. Taste is very hoppy, nice malts, sweet, syrupy. Body is a little on the light side. Good beer.

Pours a dark chocolate chestnut brown color with slight amber edges when held to a light source and a foamy yellowish tan head. Good retention, slowly fading into a lasting ring that leaves sporadic spots of lacing. Chocolate caramel malt aroma with a huge earthy hop presence. Hints of dry earthy pine with lots of dank resinous hop oil. There’s also some hazelnut and caramel biscuit malts. Very well balanced and quaffable but slightly watered down thin body. Nutty malt presence with hints of biscuit and caramel that balance out the earthy bitter hops. This beer may be a bit too well balanced because the earthy hops and dry pine notes are a bit overshadowed by the nutty malt flavors. Neither flavor is dominant resulting in an average session beer.

Pours the color of molasses with a tan head. Chocolate, molasses, malts, toffee in the aroma. Body is thiner than it looks. Flavor reminds me of a barley wine, only not nearly as alcoholic. A ton of caramel malts, chocolate, and some toast. It is then backed up with some noce bitter, fruity hops that give it that much needed extra dimension. A quality brew.

bottle thanks to bleeng. Shared at the Houston RB Tasting in October. Pours a dark brown with an off-white head. Nose is of shoe polish. Taste is of coffee. Mouthfeel is thin, dry and some bitterness.

Pours a dark amber. Bitter, coffee, hop aroma. Much sweeter in flavor but still has that nice level of hops. Smooth throughout.

When I saw this beer on the menu at the Craft Ale House, I knew I had to try it. After that initial notion, my next thought was, "I hope this is similar to DFH’s IBA. And thankfully, it was. Although I think Dogfish’s offering is just a tad-bit better. But this one came awfully close. It pours a very dark brown color with a generous and rich brown head. The head leaves an incredible amount of lacing around the glass. The nose is full of chocolate malt, bread, floral hops, pine and a touch of grapefruit. The body is a quite thick, but is still drinkable and enjoyable. The flavors have notes of bready malts, lightly toasted bread, a touch of chocolate, pine, grapefruit and of course plenty of spicy hops. The finish is rich, hoppy and extremely delicious. Here’s to hoping that I can find this beer in cases somewhere in my neighborhood!

Bottle courtesy of bleeng. Brown red pour. Fair amount of sweet hops with a bit of dirty malt. Almost a feel or coriander as well. Taste is spicy upfront with a chocolate malt finish. Interesting.