Upland Dragonfly IPA

Brewed by Upland Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Bloomington, Indiana USA

Tap at Yogi’s. Classic IPA presentation. Gold color with slight white head. Floral hop aroma dominates, but a good deal of malt present as well. Taste much the same. Very sweet and floral. I made the comment that it tasted like perfume smells. Enjoyable. Very good, but seemed a little subdued for my tastes. What was there was great, but there just wasn’t enough. Could be that I just finished pint of Bell’s Two-Hearted.

On tap at brewpub. Looks good with RED coloration though little head. The nose is lacking, I can only smell floral. The mouth feel is entirely appropriate, almost creamy and warming. The flavor is really the best part. Rather malty, but also, heavily hopped to give it not only bitterness, but also that floral IPA taste. A pretty good beer.

Yellow-orange color, just smells like alcohol, not much going on there. On the other hand, it tastes great, bitter but sweet.

bottle - The first few reviews seem to indicate heavy hops, so I wonder if this beer has changed over the years. It pours up light amber, a little bit hazy. The head is small with a little lacing. Hops are obvious in the aroma. The taste, however, is surprisingly dominated by the malt. That’s not what one would expect from an IPA. Don’t get me wrong, the hops is definitely there and I like the beer, but the bitterness is quite subdued for the style. Major hopheads would be disappointed. There’s also a bit of citrus flavor and a fairly crisp finish. This is a good session brew.

Pours from bottle courtesy of hippi4beer a hazy brown/orange with a very smalle, white head. There’s something weird going on here. Funky malty flavors with hops that are there, but don’t really jump out @ you. Average @ best.

(12 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with atpayne, thanks Adam!) Bottled around five months ago (August, 2005). Based on the dominance of the sweet honey and caramel in the nose, this seems like it’s going to be a malt-forward IPA. It’s fairly fruity as well, but in terms of hops, it’s maybe only slightly floral but that’s it. Flavor is definitely fruity, sweet and caramely, but hops does add flavor and bitterness for some semblance of balance, but the sweet maltiness clearly is in control from start to finish. The medium-full body is surprisingly heavy and chewy for a basic IPA, so clean and crisp are not descriptors I would consider using, but no complaints here. The light amber body is extremely hazy. Small but creamy off-white head quickly settles to a filmy layer, but does leave a fairly dense curtain of lace on the glass. Not the type of IPA I tend to favor, but this one is all right.

Bottle. Pours a golden orange with a light off-white head. Aroma was a blend or a fruity sweetness and hops. The hop taste was very mild although it hung around in the mouth. I wouldn’t recommend this to my hophead friends, but it was pleasant enough that I would drink it again.

Bottled June 2005 Pours a light harvest straw coler with minimal head, light carbonation. Nose is not overwhelming in hop presence, although a subtle waft is definitely there. Should be a smooth session IPA but on initial impression is not a very distinguished beer. Fizzes up a bit on the tongue but the flavors don’t really kick in until the finish. In keeping with the smell, there’s a hint of hops as it sits on the tongue, followed by a stronger kick as it rolls down the throat. Honestly I’m a bit disappointed as this is the very definition of middle of the road, but something tells me this would be much tastier on draft. It also seems like a subtle brew that might grow on you, so I may have to revisit this one later on.