Tesla Coil
Great Waters Brewing

This review is being typed verbatim from notes taken in the fall of 2007. . . sorry for the delay.

Light brown color with light frothy head. Hoppy nose with understated malt tones of something sweet perhaps caramel or something similar to candy. Malt forward flavor and then a burst of hoppiness that grows through the finish and leaves a strong hops flavor in the mouth.

This is a great time to be a beer drinker in the Twin Cities. With Double IPA's from Town Hall and Barley John's, one would think that the release of another "ordinary" IPA at Great Waters would not be worthy of mention. One would be wrong. The brewer here almost always brews his IPA's on cask and he varies the recipe with every brewing(and I love cask beers!). This one features Centennial Hops, which will probably not be available next year(according to the aforementioned brewer). Served on cask, it pours a clear amber color, with a small white head and substantial lacing on the glass. There is a slight hoppy and toffee-ish smell. The taste is foremost of hops, with a piney as well as citrussy grapefruit and lemon flavor. I don't know the IBU's of this IPA(the past several ones have been in the 90's), but it is enough to tingle in my mouth. Additionally, there is a significant malt presence, with a detectable(and delectable)butterscotch and toffee flavor. The flavors blend smoothly and the mouthfeel is nicely rich. This is a fine addition to the collection of different IPA's brewed here. I could drink this all night. Get it while you can!

On-cask at the brewpub: Nice medium golden hue with a bit of chill haze to it. Firm, tight, white frothing on top sitting about a pinky high. Lacing sticks well in some broken sheeting and plenty of spots.

Clean, well-rounded aroma of lemony pith citrus and some nice little orange additions and tender leafyness. A bit of toasted grasses hint underneath as does a sweet malt backing.

Tender, pleasant taster with a interestingly fine and well tamed and toned hoppyness the whole way through. It sticks with a fair amount of pithy citrus, a bit of pine, and floralness, but stays balanced with a nice sweetened backing. Finish is favorable with just a titch of pithy lemony bitterness and pine.

Feel is about medium if not a tad under, but has a very distinguished creamy notion and firmness about it that bolds well as the hops do just enough zipping around in some pithy action.

This is quite a solid IPA. I may need to go back for a few more just to make sure. Once, and if it goes to the tap side, a growler will definately need to filled.

Tough to determine if this was more of a British IPA or American, but I went with the later as the hops seemed more American.
Also not sure why the name as it didn't appear to be related to anything going on in the bar. Great smell of grains cooking when I was there. Cask served at 52 degrees.
Very attractive beer with dense and heavy off-white head that stayed firm throughout the drink. Orange tinted amber approaching a sunset look.
The aroma was subdued (but I always struggle with aroma in bars). Malt character was more noticeable at first, but it lacked distinctiveness. Hops presented in time with a somewhat fresh, sweet and herbal aroma.
Strong grassy flavors that initiates the marked bitterness (which lingers forever). Malt character is as much in balancing presence rather than a strong flavor. What is there is slightly grainy and a bit of toast. A hint of sweetness appeared now and then. But overall this a hop based beer in the taste. Flavors are blended and not distinct lending it to appear dull or uninspired - but that could be due to cask presentation (I'm claiming ignorance).
Quite smooth drinking. I like how carbonation feels from cask, with it being very soft. Light side of moderate for body.
This is nicely drinkable. My tongue, in time, accommodated to the harshness of the hop bitterness which allowed the transformation of the beer to something that could be sessionable. The alcohol seemed rather low too.