Woodstock India Pale Ale

Formerly brewed at Thomas Creek Brewery
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Greenville, South Carolina USA

Pours copper with an off white head. Smells of oranges, yogurt, pepper and lemons. Tastes of tea like hops, spices and some nice malt. Booziness is pronounced on the finish.

Courtesy of goldtwins via trade.

Bottle: The aroma has strong fruit notes as well as moderate caramel and citrus hops. Pours a cloudy reddish-orange with a small beige head that fades quickly. The flavor starts with lots of caramel along with some very faint fruitiness. The finish has moderate grapefruit hops that linger on the tongue for quite some time in the aftertaste.

Pours with a brilliantly clear, deep amber color that shows pretty, rich ruby hues if held up to the light. The beer is topped by a frothy, initially three-finger thick, dirty, light tan colored head, that summons forth despite a soft, careful pouring of this beer. The aroma is a mix of citrus / pine like hops and sticky malt. Lots of crystal malt notes are found in the aroma; caramel, raisins and toasted biscuits. This does have a rich, and even dominating, hop aroma to it; notes of candied orange peel mingle with notes of berries and a solid herbal character that at times seems green with notes of menthol and pine.

The beer only has a light sweetness to it, at least the hops are big enough in the flavor to not let this beer get sticky sweet, though it does remain quite chewy. A solid bitterness runs throughout the flavor profile from beginning to end. At times it is even a touch astringent, especially in the finish were it lingers on in my mouth after the beer has already passed down my gullet. Big pine like herbal notes are the dominant hop flavor, but the malt sweetness does accentuate some soft citrus notes as well. The crystal malt character, while playing a definite role here, does not seem as big as the aroma might have suggested. Still this has lots of caramelized malt character to it, with lots of chewy brown sugar glazed bread-crust notes, and even a dry biscuit like character that is noticeable towards the finish.

This is certainly a big beer. It does not quite have the lightness on the palate that I would prefer of anything with the IPA moniker on the label, but it is certainly not as sweet and chewy as some that I have had. The hops are not as typical as many American IPAs, in that this leans toward astringent herbal pine notes and does not focus as much on the über-fruity hop notes of many (including my favorite examples of the style). The harsher, astringent hop notes are nice as a balancing character, but not really as the leading role, at least to my palate. Still this is quite an enjoyable beer if you have an inner hop-head.

Bottle sampled in May 2006: Pours a clear copper orange with a nice, thin-lacing off-white head. Fresh green piny grapefruity hoppy aroma has some pleasant toasty malty notes. Body starts with a sticky sweet caramel maltiness and good fresh bitter grapefruity hoppy balance. A nice IPA.

Pours brown/orange, with a tan head. Aroma is subtle, hops and malt. Flavor is piney hops and sweet malt. Just an OK IIPA.

12 oz. bottle pours beautiful, robust, glowing orange liquid with moderate head. Nice deep, satisfying aroma. Not much lacing. Flavor zings with hoppiness, but is well-balanced out with a firm malt backbone. Piney notes. Nice medium to medium + body. Alcohol presence is apparent and attention-getting. I really like the way this beer hangs together. This is a beer with full flavor and distinct character that makes you stand up and take notice. Well-done!

Pours wtih an orange body topped by a medium thick head wtih some lacing. It’s slightly sweet yet bitter with a grassy, slightly piney note. Medium bodied, slightly dry and smooth.

Sample at Sleepy Bear tasting 09/30/06 - Aroma is mostly malts (pale and carmel) with some floral hops sneaking in at the end. Pours hazy orange with small head and good lacing. Flavor matches aroma. Palate is slighty tart. Not a bad brew, but I never would have guessed they are billing it as a IIPA, that’s a joke right?