Thomas Hooker Hop Meadow IPA

Brewed by Thomas Hooker Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Bloomfield, Connecticut USA

Piney resin aroma, feint citrus aroma. Pours amber/pale thin to no head. Piney citrus hop flavor up front, very mild, some caramel malt, crystal malt i’d say. A good session IPA. Very light and easy to drink!

12 oz. bottle. Pours a hazy amber with a moderate off-white head that faded to a ring fairly quickly. Light hoppy aroma with some grapefruit. The flavor is decidedly hoppy with grapefruit and some pine. I did not find this beer to have much in the way of malt flavor as most others have reported. Bitter finish, but by no means acrid. This turned out to be a very drinkable but very average IPA.

Appearance: Pours a dark amber with a slight murkiness. A dense, foamy head left lots of sticky, eye-catching lacing. Smell: Caramel maltiness at once yields to the penetrating hop aroma. Hops smell pungently of grapefruit and orange zest, with a touch of grassiness. Taste: The brief, weak malt presence is instantly replaced by sheer bitterness. The irritating, acrid taste of pine resin lasts a little too long, eventually becoming sharply offensive. The malts fail to provide any contrasting sweetness to balance this IPA out, sadly leaving it one-dimensional (and unpleasant). Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. The carbonation attempts to lend a touch of smoothness, but it’s of no use against such brutal, overwhelming bitterness. Drinkability: Well, if you’re looking for an intensely bitter hop flavor, you’ll definitely find it in Thomas Hooker’s Hop Meadow IPA.

12oz bottle via trade with Eyedrinkale! - Thanks Mike - Pours dark amber with a short offwhite head that fades pretty quick. Aromas of earthy hops with a slight citrus kiss over caramel malts. Flavor is pretty malty for an IPA. Lots of caramel there. Some orange and a touch of pine as well. Pretty well balanced and easy drinking. Kind of a sweet mouthfeel. Not really a hophead’s dream though I don’t think.

Bottle - from sampler pack. Copper color. Very good. Strong and quite hoppy.

Draught. Poured a hazy golden amber body with thin head. Crisp hops dominate the aroma. Sweet hoppy taste, nice malty backbone. This one has a big hoppy bite to it, syrupy. Feels like a hop party going on in your mouth. Good IPA.

I had this and one of my most recent homebrewed IPAs back to back and they were pretty similar. I used Chinook and cascades in my beer and they use the same in this. Not too hoppy...my beer was hoppier, but the balance on this beer was better. Had an english ale yeast flavor in it also. I’d say its a pretty normal east coast IPA.

Light grassy aroma with some faint hops. Golden brown body with a medium head. The palate is medium to full for the style. Earthy flavor dominates this one with some medium bitterness. Light malt in the background and a hint of fruit. Solid.