Single Hop IPA: Summer
Bridge Road Brewers

 

 

Really nice aroma. Taste is light and crisp and refreshing. Body is lacking.

 

 

This beer has a nice orange colour and produces a good head. The aroma is sweet and reminiscent of honey and molasses. The taste is mild and has a spicy note to it. Pleasant to drink and leaves a bitter aftertaste that is not unpleasant.

Overall it is a solid beer and I am impressed that it is only 4.8%. They say they increased the hopping to balance for the low alpha acid % of the hop. I think considering the low ABV they did very well.

 

 

A: Pours adark copper color with a good head that fades slowly to lacing.

S: Aroma of citrus, fresh grain and a bit of malt sweetness.

T: Taste of citrus, a bit tart with a bit of malt sweetness. Sharp bitterness and a dry finish.

F: Medium body, crisp and refreshing. Nice balance.

O: Interesting IPA that fits the hot weather very nicely.

Pours a dirty amber colour. Head is white, a bit paler than the brownish body might have suggested. Slight cloud to it, and head goes away after a while, leaving a slight ring of lacing. Not bad.

Smells largely fruity, with aromatic hops gliding over a quite nutty malt base. Hints of paw-paw, apricot and mango, slight coconut hint and a bit of hazelnut. Pleasant IPA aroma, could maybe use some more powerful hop fragrance.

Taste is similar, with that malt base quite noticeable throughout. Nutty and toffee-esque, gives it quite at English feel to begin with. Hops are floral, fruity and pleasant, with mango and some citrus notes being prominent. Quite a resinous bitterness at the back, but very soft, without much of a typical IPA bite. Quite a mellow hop, really, with a gentle flavour uplift and not a huge complexity to be found anywhere, really. Pleasant showcase hop though, and could see it used wonderfully in conjunction with others.

Bit of sharpness around the edge, dries out the mouth quite a bit. Decently constructed texture otherwise.

An expectantly tasty beer, but I can't say the hop really excites me. And if it doesn't sadly there's not much else a single hop IPA can do.

 

 

Pours a one finger head over a cloudy (very cloudy) straw body. Lacing good.

Aromas of citrus, more lemons than grapefruit. Hint of each.

Taste is dry and hoppy. Lemons to the fore. Merest hint of pine. Restrained bitter aftertaste. Not a big taste by any means.

Mouthfeel light and appropriate for style.

Overall, a good experiment, but too dry for this paate.

Got this at Purvis b/c I'd never heard of the hop before. From notes.

A - Poured cloudy golden. One finger of white soapy head on top with decent lace and a film of retention.

S - Floral, light citrus, biscuity.

T - Floral. A strange pine note. There were resins and light sweet fruits as well.

M - A little rough in the bitterness department with good carbonation and a medium body.

O/D - Interesting. A different hop. Seemed rather tame, but worth a shot to experience the hop, especially if unfamiliar with it. Nothing outstanding, but inoffensive.

Cloudy golden colour with a creamy, off-white head. Smooth and silky. A touch more clarity would be nice.

Hop resin, melon and stonefruit dominates. Touches of pine add depth. The aroma could be stronger and a little deeper but the freshness is nice.

Soft easy malt, moderate bitterness, hard fruit and a touch of berry. Almost like Bramling X. Very nice.

Medium-light body with moderate carbonation. Very nice.

Easy and light on but the similarities to Bramling X have me and I like the way it comes together as a very easy drinking IPA.

Pours dark amber with a small fading head.
Nose shows masses of fruity hops, with apricot and pine along with softer melon. Underneath is cookie dough-like malt and caramel.
Flavours are similar; melon, caramel, pine, but somewhat faint. Finishes with a bold bitterness.
Could use a thicker body and more carbonation.

Appearance - 2.5
Pours a thin white head over a hazy body of deep golden amber.

Smell - 3.5
As the brewers say, Summer is a melon and stone fruit hop and the hops are the star here. Light, honeyish and biscuity malt stays in the background.

Taste - 3.5
Light, biscuity malt backbone, followed up by assertive, yet smooth hop bitterness and flavours of melon, underripe plums and dried apricots. Finishes very dry, perhaps overly so.

Mouthfeel - 4.0
Medium bodied with lively carbonation and small bead, resulting in a smooth, almost creamy mouthfeel.

Overall - 3.5
Summer is a lovely hop, but I can't help but feel that it doesn't have the oomph to fuel an IPA on its own. To me this seems more like a slightly too bitter Aussie sparkling ale - an enjoyable and highly drinkable beer, but not quite an IPA.

Pours a hazy dark orange hue which leaves a creamy dimple laden three finger head and heaps of lacing everywhere,the smell is candied orange peel,light grapefruit with also piney hops and its not full on its a little subdued more like a nice bouquet of aromas instead of a smack in the face,the mouthfeel is very light bodied and too light for my liking of the style and the taste is like the smell a little subdued but still there and has hints of melons,goosberries,citrus zest,a slight touch of boiled candy and the finish is a light hit of piney hop bitterness and overall its alright but not great and prefer the other two in the series.

Very cloudy orange colour, cloudy more so because the guy who served it to me at the Pumphouse swirled the yeast in to it—not necessarily something that I would do myself. Head is fine, but turgid, and pure white, leaving some speckled lacing down the glass. It actually looks a lot lighter and simpler than a regular IPA, but the BR ones tend that way—really more like a single-hopped APA than a single-hopped IPA.

Nose is rife with apricot fruitiness, really quite strong and pleasant. There are slight hints of something sharper, like lemon or orange, but if I had to pick a fruit: apricot is the one. Slight hint of herbal freshness to it, perhaps a touch of mint. It's a potent and fresh nose, giving some very pleasant characteristics.

Taste is also pleasant and crisp, but the hops actually give an odd woody earthiness to the palate; something that somewhat reminds me of Pride of Ringwood. Still, those herbal notes come through rather pleasantly, and they give it a lift of brightness and crispness, but the apricot on the palate is limited to the aromatics you sense through the nose. It's decent enough, but missing the excitement of some of their other single hop brews.

Nice enough, and an interesting insight into the Summer Saaz variety from Hop Products Australia. I really enjoy the fact that Bridge Road pick up new hops and showcase them like this—they certainly do a good job on the beer as a whole. But to be fair, I'm perhaps a little underwhelmed by Summer as a variety; great aromatics, but falling away from then on.

Thanks to Chris @ Slowbeer.

Pours a nice dark rockmelon (flesh) colour with healthy head and lacing.

Smell is leafy notes with some melon and lemon underlying.

Taste is similar leafiness with a crispness but not too much bitterness.

Mouthfeel is a little thin for an IPA.

Overall not really valid to call this an IPA although it is still enjoyable. I do feel I want a bit more heft in terms of the malt/bitterness dichotomy though. Far more of a pale ale, and it goes down like water, as easily as Pacific Ale.

This beer is aromatically similar to Bling, so I'm guessing this hop forms a substantial part of Bling's hopping regime.

Well done Bridge Road again.