Town Hall 1800 Old English IPA

GABF 2009. Clear golden-orange color with a medium white head. Aroma is bready and caramel malt and citrusy and piney hops. Flavor is pale and caramel malt, a tiny bit of bread, earth, and piney/citrus hops. Hoppier than your typical English IPA from what I’ve had at least. Some light fruity notes. Body is medium and the finish is slightly dry. Overall pretty good.

Sampled at GABF. Basically, I was yelling about how I wanted Masala Mama and they tried to use this to shut me up. Piney aroma with some caramel. Pretty hoppy flavor. I liked it alright.

TAP: golden pour, malt and citrus on the nose. Starts out great, but a long bitter pine finish.

Tap at brewpub. Pours a cloudy yellow with an aroma of sweet and tart grapefruit. Flavor is off-center bitter English hops. Full and tingly mouthfeel. Fair beer, but not great.

On tap at brewpub. Clear, light golden pour. Faint hop aroma. Nice bitter, herbal hop flavor. Very light mouthfeel.

hazy orange/amber in colorr. A citrusy and slightly sweet beer. A bit of pine in the end.

10 oz. pour, on tap at the brewpub. Listed on the menu at 8.6% abv. Subdued, fruity, floral, and yeasty aroma features strawberry, brown sugar, and melon scents. The smell is nice, but I wish it were stronger. The aroma improves upon drinking. Pours a hazy, dark gold to bronze, almost orange, color. Small to moderate amount of beige head. Produces good lacing. Pleasant meld of American double IPA malts and English-style, sharp, dirt-bitter hops. Floral and peach flavors. Alcohol well masked. Awesome, hoppy, earthy, bitter aftertaste of grass and dirt. It’s like I scooped up a clump of sod from my lawn, and stuck it on the back of my tongue, and swished it around in my mouth. That probably doesn’t sound too pleasant, but I loved it. Heavy body. Smooth, oily, and lively in the palate. This is a big, bitter beer. It’s a rare English-style double IPA (I’ve never had one before), and it contrasts nicely to the (admittedly often excellent) citrusy and piney doubles for which the American West Coast in renowned. I’m very surprised that this beer doesn’t score more highly here at RateBeer. So far, it’s the best Town Hall brew that I have tried.

Clear, dull orange. Tightly fruity aroma with a clear synthetic edge of lavender shampoo; syrupy pear juices and bubblegum underneath. Hints of dark, grainy honey and pungent artichokes warm up toward the end. Taste kicks in bitterly with aerosol; watermelon seeds, canteloupe rind and dark berry skins lend a rich tannic tone that seems to lean a bit toward plastic and thorough astringency after a while. Stays tolerable and flavorful, though. Pears, bananas; lots of sweet doughy yeasts nearing the finish. Drying out with more generic fruit peel. Medium bodied and fairly effervescent, with alcohol seeming firm on the palate. Somewhat scattered, and while interesting, rather unfulfilling; just a bit too acerbic and lacking the sharpened character it needs.