Town Hall Masala Mama IPA

Brewed by Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA

Surprisingly fruity with citrus hops, butterscotch, caramel and even some roasted malts. Clear dark copper-brown coloured body is topped by a decent tan head that lasts. Toasted, biscuity malts play well with citrus, herbal, earthy hops and moderate bitterness with just a touch of buttery flavour apparent. Medium body is quite dry with lively carbonation that engages the tongue. Sampled at GABF 2005.

Dark oragne with an off white head. Aroma was glorious: sweet oranges and lemons. Had a really good hop punch to it complimented by sweet orange and lemon citrus notes. Had a good amount of floral hops in the finish with a good body. It was like GI IPA met SNCA.

Slighty murky orange red pour, with an extremely strong lacing head of offwhitish. The oh-so-familiar blasting sticky Hoops hop profile with resin, orange, grapefruit and floral. Flavor is somewhat punishing and sharp, hops of floral and lots of pine. A little malt bring up the background. Palate is surprsiningly creamy with a lot of grass hoppy resin.

From the Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery located in the Twin Cities, this growler came to me via BA feloniousmonk. The seal had obviously held up, as the beer came out with a nicely swirling fine carbonation forming a lace bearing eggshell white head, which was thin, but rich. The beer itself was rather clear, with an attractive copper amber color, which was a shade darker than the run of the mill IPA. The aroma was very good at the time of the pour, and got better as the beer warmed up. The smell was that of flowery, spicy, and citric hops, that were strong without being over the top. The sweet honeysuckle smell of the underlying malt base was permitted to shine through faintly as well.

Taste was unabashedly bitter and peppery with no qualms about the hyper hopped nature of the drink. The malts were caramel, and only there to prop up the hop fireworks going on in my mouth. I love when a brewer self assuredly brews a beer to take its rightful place in the world, and this is a mighty example of this. The soft tropical mouthfeel, dry palette, and leafy bitter aftertaste, all go on paint a cohesive and harmonious picture. I no longer thought a single IPA could wow me, but this one does. Utterly spectacular.

Enjoyed on draught at the brewery in the esteemed company of the man who brings the milk. Fruity peach aroma is strong, on top of grapefruit. Flavor is bitter citrus rind, plus earth and iron. The malt here is sourdoughy and the entire experience is well melded. A great beer, dark in color like Victory Hop Devil and that beer makes a good comparison.

(Growler: Shared by Sdbruboy courtesy of footbalm, thanks Cliff and Eric!) "Enjoy by 14-Nov-05" written on the growler, so we have a day to spare. Given my reluctance to rate growlers that have been shipped across the country, I’m hesitant to rate this beer. But it has only taken one sniff and then one sip to quickly abandon that philosophy in this case. Wow, this is a great IPA! Flavorful and well-balanced, this has good, solid malt body for an IPA. Moderately sweet with light caramel flavor is balanced by grapefruity and moderately bitter hops. Lots of tea and chalk flavor throughout, and a bit of alcohol in there as well. The wonderfully aromatic and well-balanced nose shows much malt, tea, hops and citrus. Medium "plus" body, round and chalky mouthfeel, a long and pleasantly bitter aftertaste, very nice. Despite coming from a growler, the carbonation is perfect. The body is ruddy amber in color and slightly hazy. The creamy, light tan head pours to an inch and takes about ten minutes to settle to a filmy layer -- pretty impressive for a shipped growler. Boy, if this beer is this good traveling across the country in a growler, I can’t wait to visit this brewpub the next time I’m in Minneapolis. A very solid beer all around.

Growler - many thanks to footbalm for shipping this sweetheart halfway across the country to me! Pours a beautiful maple-amber color with a large creamy beige head. Aroma is predominantly hoppy with fruity malt undertones evident as well - lots of citrus aromas, some pine and caramel as well. Flavor is quite good - nicely balanced with nice sweet caramel, a bit of ripe pear and then a huge hop rush featuring grapefruit, lemon and bitter grass. Medium body and moderate carbonation. Coming from a guy with access to many of the best west coast IPA’s, I have to say that this nicely balanced Minneapolis native was a real treat! Thanks again Eric for making the effort to ship this to me!

Growler shard at the Grey Lodge in Philly. This was a good IPA. Had a hop bite that I can’t put my finger on. Wasn’t left coast hops. Wasn’t right coast bitter. Alochol was tasted at the end of the beer. This was a keeper