Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Hoptologist IPA Tasting

<!--[if gte mso 9]> Carroll, Keith D Normal Carroll, Keith D 2 152 2012-10-10T16:52:00Z 2012-10-10T16:52:00Z 1 195 1116 Philip Morris USA 9 2 1309 14.00 <![endif]
I brewed an IPA a while back that was inspired by Bells Brewery’s Hopslam. This is not meant to be a clone, although I used Simcoe and Amarillo hops and included a bit of honey at the end.

Aroma: pine with a hint of tropical fruit, a touch of malt sweetness, no noticeable esters or diacetyl

Appearance: slightly cloudy, amber, ½” of off-white head that settles to a thin layer, leaves a nice lacing down the glass

Flavor: This one is all about the hops; nice pine punch with a touch of tropical fruit; just enough malt to keep it from being completely out of balance, but the balance is definitely skewed toward the hops; clean fermentation; finishes with a nice clean bitterness that lingers a moment in the aftertaste

Mouthfeel: smooth, medium mouthfeel; low-moderate carbonation with no astringency

Overall impression: great American IPA with the balance definitely toward the hops; bring the carbonation up a bit, which should help improve head retention

I have enjoyed this IPA. I’m going to try to brew a lower gravity version of this beer because it is hard to drink more than 1 or 2 before falling over. Definitely the biggest drawback to this beer is that it will knock your package into your watch pocket.

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