Thomas Hooker Hop Meadow IPA

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

In short: A soapy piney IPA. Ok at best.
How: Bottle 12oz. Drank fresh immediately after receiving it from jjpm64, thanks a lot John.
The look: Partly cloudy golden-copper body topped by a large beige head with medium retention
In long: Nose is piney, slightly fruity and a bit soapy giving the impression of some kind of those little green tree air freshener that you suspend to the rear-view mirror. Taste is more of the same. I don’t know if it was my bottle, but their was a strong aromatic chemical aspect to this beer. Not bothersome but just a bit “off”. Body is fluffy, carbonation is tickling. Taste is chemical Pine-Sol™, caramel, tree bark, citrus fruits and earthy notes. Mild-medium bitterness. Overall rather dry. Not a very good beer by any means but I can’t complain because at $2 it’s a cheap Thomas Hooker, and if I could one but without the “Thomas” that would be really nice.

I was disappointed the second I started to pour this beer into my glass. The dark color wasn’t very consistent with the style, and the aroma didn’t feature much flowery and spicy hops at all. The body was medium and drinkable, but lacked character. There was a huge lack of hops in this IPA. It just wasn’t there.......at all. I tasted too much malt, caramel and sweetness. This beer didn’t have that typical IPA bite to it. It wasn’t spicy, it wasn’t bitter and it wasn’t abrasive. I expect my tastebuds to be almost ruined by an IPA, and this didn’t even come close. This was a huge disappointment.

Deep amber almost brown pour with off white creamy head and lace. Aroma of roasted malt, an almost brown sugar like aroma and citrus. A hint of sweetness followed by a metallic flavor and a pretty decent hop bitter. Medium bodied and a tad foamy. A drinkable beer but at 6.5 how would that work out:)

Pours a dark amber with an off-white head and has a pretty swank hoppy and fruity aroma. The taste itself is actually pretty subdued for an IPA and in some ways this beer resembles more an APA. It has a smooth and mellow feel to it. Really well-balanced and has just enough hops to hit you a little, but not too hard. Rather floery.

Bottle curtesy of Beerhawk. Don’t know the vintage, but due to the mellowness of it, I’d guess it had some age on it. Pours a rich clear brown with reddish highlights and nice dark tan head. Suprisingly malty aroma, some raisin, and faint floral hops. A well balanced ipa.

Bottle. Floral bouquet on the nose. Flavor is initially malt and fruit semi-sweet, and the palate quite mellow. As the flavors sat in my mouth then the hoppy touches kick in with a nice bittering effect. Palate, however, stays mellow, which did not grant me that crisp flowery IPA flavor that I love so much. Overall, I good quality IPA, but lacking the zip to kick it to the next level.

This Hooker poured a dark amber color with a very small head. It smelled nice and hoppy and had a slight malt aroma as well. On taste it was smooth and hoppy. This was a good IPA. The beer finishes a bit sweet )maybe carmel like flavors). A good well balanced IPA. I was surprised and satisfied.

Bottle. Pours clear red brown with a thin beige head. Aroma has orange, caramel, and candy sugar. Well balanced flavor, with a nice sweetness and some bitter floral hops. Nice lasting bitter finish.