Tartar Control IPA
Great Waters Brewing

 

 

This beer is definitely not retired. I picked up a growler of it yesterday.

It pours a dark gold to light copper color. Thick frothy head of about 3/4 inch in a pint glass. Floral nose of hops with some non-floral hops scents mixed in. Smooth creamy attack with the first sip and surprisingly malty which lent some nice balance. . . to the first sip. After that first sip and the onslaught of the hops I was never able to regain that malty creaminess again. So go ahead and savor that first sip. The hops is strong and intensifies as you near the finish. The hoppiness lingers long into the aftertaste. I wish there was a way to recapture that initial smooth maltiness or that it would carry more throughout the flavor. It seems to get a little bit out of balance the more of it you sip on. The behavior of the bitters in the flavor reminds me of Surly's Furious beer though not nearly as hoppy. This is still a good beer and worth drinking. I just kept searching for something I thought was there.

Despite what BA says this beer is not retired. They seem to brew it once a year or so and because they are a brewpub Great Waters has a lot of beers that come and go and come back again. Over the years Ive had this beer many times, but only on cask. I was gratefull to see that this time around they put it on regular draft. Pours a semi hazy, rusty orange with an ample head. Decent retention with lots of lace. Aroma is of mild citrus hops and biscuit like malt. Doesnt smell as potent as an American IPA should in my opinion. Taste is very hoppy, slight grapefruit and pine with flower like underpinnings. Toasted bread/biscuit malts in the middle followed by a dry bitter finish. If I had to guess I would say this IPA relies heavily on Cascade hops, but I could very well be wrong. There is a slight, asparin aspect to the finish that is terribley unpleasant but I only tasted it in the first couple of sips, kinda weird. Maybe GWs house yeast is getting away from them as Ive tasted this a couple of their other brews lately. Its hard to describe and very nasty, but fortunatly for this beer it faded very quickly. Carbonation is medium as is the mouthfeel. Overall I liked this beer and would defently try it again. On a side note I really wish GW would put more IPAs on regualr draft as their casks are served at what seems to be about 60F. I dont drink their cask offerings anymore because they serve them way to warm.

Had on tap at Great Waters during my eight-year old's birthday. We asked where she wanted to go for dinner & she said "Great Waters!" Are we raising a fine daughter or what?

Looked like a nice IPA, with a rather subdued nose.

Beer was very drinkable, but light on the hops & heavy on the malt. Not much to break it out of the pack, but decent enough beer, & one that would be easy to drink without the think for long periods of time.

Thanks little girl!

Beautiful cloudy copper pushed pour, with a beautiful tight creamy head that coated the glass all the way down, maybe one of the best looking beers I have ever had.
Hop aroma is lacking for an IPA, nice aromatic malts, but I really had to search for some floral and citrus hops.
Flavors are similar, this one is very malty for an IPA, I know that some of this is working out in the cask, but I really am missing the hops.
Mouthfeel is awesome nice and creamy, thick and great cask feel, little carbonation. This is a very drinkable beer, but to me it is more of an APA on cask, which would have been good, but I was hoping for a little more hop utilization in this IPA

This one really hit the spot, my first taste of brew after a long bike trip from my home in downtown Minneapolis all the way into downtown St. Paul, a trip I'll try again.

Appearance: lush, peachy/apricotty hue, with a stable, fuzzy, creamy-toned head. Very pleased with the look, sets the anticipation high.

Most pleasing aroma, sunny, citric, tropical notes, mellow bitterness, meets my approval.

Taste: soft and subtle, sliding into the mouth, but unrelenting with the hop attack, ...bitter, but turns sweet at times, as well, orangey, peachy flavors.
A very satisfying IPA, cask-style.
I wrote the following in my notes: "like a well-scrubbed tooth."
I have no idea what that refers to...

Wished I could have taken a growler home to enjoy it more fully. My two pints at the pub were well enjoyed, and I look forward to future tastes.

On cask at the brewpub...

Semi bright orangey peach color, murky. Pale head of large bubbles but it settles pretty quickly. Delicate lacing, thin and complex tendrils on the glass. Citric aroma, leaning toward the orange in quality. Snapping hops greet the palate, grapefruit with a fade to more resiny notes. Nice bold attempt here. The malt is pleasant, a bit of a sugary sense that's adequate to balance while giving the hops center stage. To compare to Town Hall Masala Mama on cask -- texture and mouthfeel are close, malts are weaker, and the hops are slightly more tarry and less juicy. A fun beer and a bigger experiment than Great Waters often makes.

On-cask at the brewpub: Named due the fact that a dentists convention is in town and will be visiting Great Waters during that time span. But.... Oh my we have a winner here!

Nice golden hazed body with a medium sized, firm sponge of whipped smooth froth sitting atop like a heavy cloud of melted white ice cream. Keeps there for a good long while - barely fading. Thickly skimmed on top the whole duration of the glass while placing all sorts of broken webby lacing as it goes.

Aroma is all resin loaded with a hugely placed dry pine cone setting with fine gratings of sun-dried citrus peels and some left over, day old biscuit crusts.

Taste: In a word - biscuity! Tons of Vienna malt totally surge forward with a big toasty edged crispness and biscuity dryness over little bits of citrus peels that elude towards dried lemon and orange. Somewhat pithy like with controlled bitterness all the way through. Why? Cuz those damn toasty Vienna malts just take charge adding some wonderful, somewhat off balanced flavors. Very big on the toasty factions. Hops are dry and leafy with inlays of pine but carrying mostly dried citrus peels within the biscuit brigade. Overall, soft and toasty with nicely handled hopping.

Feel is quite crisp, dry, biscuity, well rounded with a semi creamy fluffyness. Just a bit less then full for its body, but makes up for it with its easy goin' softness and cask-pulled warmth. Wonderfully clean too. An aspect missing from other cask offerings at Great Waters in the past.

Drinkable. Damn straight it is. Super fun to drink down. Love the biscuity tones in this one along with everything else it adds to the mix. By far, one of the better beers to come off the cask at Great Waters in a long time. A sign of things to come I think. And hope. Very nice stuff.