Dragonfly IPA | Upland Brewing Company
Brewed by:
Upland Brewing Company
Indiana, United States
uplandbeer.com
Style: American IPA
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 6.00%
Availability: Year-round
Notes / Commercial Description:
India Pale Ale originated when the British Empire was at its height. British soldiers and civil servants were stationed all over the globe (including India), and regular ales could not survive the long journey by sea to reach them. The British solved this terrible dilemma by adding excessive amounts of hops to their beer–using the preservative properties of hops to increase the life of their beers.
Our Dragonfly India Pale Ale is true to this tradition, featuring seven hop additions to create a powerful hop profile. A solid malt base, however, tempers the bitter American hops, giving Dragonfly a balance not often found in this style. The end product is a well-balanced, malty beer with the crisp taste of hops and an exceptionally floral nose.
Added by BeerAdvocate on 04-08-2002
HISTOGRAM
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Ratings: 759 | Reviews: 220
3.44/5 rDev -0.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
I'm from MT visiting IN desperately looking for a decent IPA. This is a slightly better than most of the IN versions but still suffers from the too citrusy lighter common theme I seem to get here. I definitely prefer NW IPA'S and MT IPA's in particular. A representative IPA I adore is Tumbleweed from the Lewis and Clark brewery in Helena MT. In general, and reflected by scores, midwesterners need to work on things. This is a bit better than most though from the midwest.
475 characters
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
I'm from MT visiting IN desperately looking for a decent IPA. This is a slightly better than most of the IN versions but still suffers from the too citrusy lighter common theme I seem to get here. I definitely prefer NW IPA'S and MT IPA's in particular. A representative IPA I adore is Tumbleweed from the Lewis and Clark brewery in Helena MT. In general, and reflected by scores, midwesterners need to work on things. This is a bit better than most though from the midwest.
475 characters
3.76/5 rDev +9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
3.65/5 rDev +5.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.49/5 rDev +1.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.53/5 rDev +2.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
3.66/5 rDev +6.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
4.57/5 rDev +32.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
3.49/5 rDev +1.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.75/5 rDev +8.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.56/5 rDev +3.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
I am running through the backlog here at Chez Woody, trying to beat the heat as a heat wave takes over for the next few days. Fortunately, The CANQuest (tm) is strong & I have lots of CANdidates to drink, review & rate for your pleasure.
From the CAN: "Just the right amount of bite". From the brewery's website: "India Pale Ale originated when the British added excessive amounts of hops to help preserve their ales for long journeys to their citizens overseas, including to India. Our Dragonfly India Pale Ale is true to this tradition, featuring seven hop additions to create a powerful hop profile. A solid malt base, however, tempers the bitter American hops, giving Dragonfly a balance not often found in this style. The end product is a well-balanced, malty beer with the crisp taste of hops and an exceptionally floral nose. Dragonfly is our most popular beer, serving as an introduction to craft beer for many and a longstanding favorite for many more."; "ABV: 6.7 YEAST: House strain MALT: Pale Ale, White Wheat, Carapils, Special Roast, Caramel 60L HOPS: Warrior, Columbus, Simcoe, Cascade, Whole Leaf Cascade".
Wow! So many hops & yet, they still show it as low in IBUs. Interesting. It was also interesting on the Crack! when I got foaming coming through the vent, forcing me to CANmence an emergency Glug. An in-glass swirl raised two-plus fingers of foamy, soapy, rocky, tawny head with limited retention in the face of today's heat & humidity. Color was an oh-so-slightly-hazy Amber (SRM = > 7, < 9). Nose had an interesting floral hops quality, undoubtedly from the whole-leaf Cascade & I also smelled the Caramel & CaraPils of the malt coming through. Mouthfeel was on the thin side of medium, light for this style. The taste was mellow, very low in bitterness as indicated on their website. It reminded me of hop tea, which I have had on several occasions, usually with homebrewers. I didn't dislike it, but it also was not scratching my itch. The hops were more prevalent than on the nose & thankfully, the caramel malt was not as assertive as on the nose. It just lacked Ooomph! in terms of its bitterness, especially since that is a hallmark of the style. Finish was semi-dry, just lacking an overall bitterness. It was okay, not bad, but there are better examples, IMHO. YMMV.
2,302 characters
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
I am running through the backlog here at Chez Woody, trying to beat the heat as a heat wave takes over for the next few days. Fortunately, The CANQuest (tm) is strong & I have lots of CANdidates to drink, review & rate for your pleasure.
From the CAN: "Just the right amount of bite". From the brewery's website: "India Pale Ale originated when the British added excessive amounts of hops to help preserve their ales for long journeys to their citizens overseas, including to India. Our Dragonfly India Pale Ale is true to this tradition, featuring seven hop additions to create a powerful hop profile. A solid malt base, however, tempers the bitter American hops, giving Dragonfly a balance not often found in this style. The end product is a well-balanced, malty beer with the crisp taste of hops and an exceptionally floral nose. Dragonfly is our most popular beer, serving as an introduction to craft beer for many and a longstanding favorite for many more."; "ABV: 6.7 YEAST: House strain MALT: Pale Ale, White Wheat, Carapils, Special Roast, Caramel 60L HOPS: Warrior, Columbus, Simcoe, Cascade, Whole Leaf Cascade".
Wow! So many hops & yet, they still show it as low in IBUs. Interesting. It was also interesting on the Crack! when I got foaming coming through the vent, forcing me to CANmence an emergency Glug. An in-glass swirl raised two-plus fingers of foamy, soapy, rocky, tawny head with limited retention in the face of today's heat & humidity. Color was an oh-so-slightly-hazy Amber (SRM = > 7, < 9). Nose had an interesting floral hops quality, undoubtedly from the whole-leaf Cascade & I also smelled the Caramel & CaraPils of the malt coming through. Mouthfeel was on the thin side of medium, light for this style. The taste was mellow, very low in bitterness as indicated on their website. It reminded me of hop tea, which I have had on several occasions, usually with homebrewers. I didn't dislike it, but it also was not scratching my itch. The hops were more prevalent than on the nose & thankfully, the caramel malt was not as assertive as on the nose. It just lacked Ooomph! in terms of its bitterness, especially since that is a hallmark of the style. Finish was semi-dry, just lacking an overall bitterness. It was okay, not bad, but there are better examples, IMHO. YMMV.
2,302 characters
4.07/5 rDev +18%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
3.37/5 rDev -2.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
12oz bottle with a best enjoyed by tag of July 2018. Pours a touch browner than expected with minimal head, a portent of things to come. This is malty enough to make me question if it's really an IPA, whether American or English. Minimal hop bitterness closer to the finish. Not particularly bad, but just nondescript and somewhat boring, even for a local brewer that I consider average with occasional big hits.
412 characters
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
12oz bottle with a best enjoyed by tag of July 2018. Pours a touch browner than expected with minimal head, a portent of things to come. This is malty enough to make me question if it's really an IPA, whether American or English. Minimal hop bitterness closer to the finish. Not particularly bad, but just nondescript and somewhat boring, even for a local brewer that I consider average with occasional big hits.
412 characters
3.91/5 rDev +13.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.71/5 rDev +7.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Had this on 2018-02-28 in Bolingbrook IL at Ted's Montana Grill on tap.
71 characters
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Had this on 2018-02-28 in Bolingbrook IL at Ted's Montana Grill on tap.
71 characters
3.25/5 rDev -5.8%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
3.44/5 rDev -0.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
3.19/5 rDev -7.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3
3.41/5 rDev -1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.99/5 rDev +15.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
This was poured into a becher pint glass.
The appearance was a soft burnt orange to copper color with a finger's worth of white foamy head that slid off at a mild pace. Some light stringy lace ran here and there.
The aroma had some crisp semi-sweet to light bitter floral hops with some grassy hops coming together that bit down on some pineapple juice. Soft dankiness came in nicely.
The flavor leaned into the sweetness of the combination of those hops - floral, pineapple and danky flowing into each other nicely. Mild aftertaste of the floral and pineapple hop qualities.
The mouthfeel was about medium bodied, perhaps just a tad under with a wonderful smooth sessionability about it. Carbonation felt good with a sturdy ABV well projected by the brewer. Mild finish of the sweetness of the pineapple and dankiness, seemingly losing a touch of floral.
Overall, really nicely done AIPA that I wouldn't mind having again.
923 characters
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
This was poured into a becher pint glass.
The appearance was a soft burnt orange to copper color with a finger's worth of white foamy head that slid off at a mild pace. Some light stringy lace ran here and there.
The aroma had some crisp semi-sweet to light bitter floral hops with some grassy hops coming together that bit down on some pineapple juice. Soft dankiness came in nicely.
The flavor leaned into the sweetness of the combination of those hops - floral, pineapple and danky flowing into each other nicely. Mild aftertaste of the floral and pineapple hop qualities.
The mouthfeel was about medium bodied, perhaps just a tad under with a wonderful smooth sessionability about it. Carbonation felt good with a sturdy ABV well projected by the brewer. Mild finish of the sweetness of the pineapple and dankiness, seemingly losing a touch of floral.
Overall, really nicely done AIPA that I wouldn't mind having again.
923 characters
4.25/5 rDev +23.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
2.8/5 rDev -18.8%
look: 3.25 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
look: 3.25 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
2.93/5 rDev -15.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3
4.34/5 rDev +25.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
3.47/5 rDev +0.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Dragonfly IPA from Upland Brewing Company
Beer rating:
3.45 out of
5 with
759 ratings
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