Otter Creek 15th Anniversary IPA
Otter Creek Brewing

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOTE: This beer is old and as an IPA this is not good.

Pours a nice dark golden color with a decent sized head. Its a bit cloudy but it looks pretty good.

Smell, not much in the hops department. It actually is a lot of malt sweetness and some old, earthy hop aromas.

Taste is very sweet, almost like a Scotch ale, I guess thats what happens to a malt heavy IPA over time.

Glad I got a bottle (cheap) but wish I had gotten it a few years back when it came back. Oh well, it came with two other bottles and a glass and the whole thing only cost me $6.99 at Nikki's in Providence.

Thanks to mikesgroove for this one.

Pours a nice deep cloudy peachy brown with a decent off white head. Nose is malty as hell for an IPA hops are dying. Taste is weak hop wise, malts are very present and too sweet. mouthfeel is nice, but kind of viscous. drinkability is good, but the overall sweetness hampers it a bit. Overall an ok IPA, but really nothing special, Probably wouldn't buy this again, but it wasn't unenjoyable.

Poured from a bomber to a pint glass the liquid is muddy brown amber with ok carbonation.

The smell is big thick caramel with loads of earthy hops.

The taste follows the malt seems to be a big as a dopplebock. Caramel and dark fruit with lots of dry earthy hops.

The mouthfeel is big thick and sticky with ok carbonation.

The drinkability is ok not a brew I would seek out but ok. MK

I got this in a trade with goaliepride. Thanks Michael!

This pours from 22oz bottle a hazy amber(I smelled the malt as soon as I opened it) with a 1 finger head of foam.

The smell has big notes of caramel and bread with just a bit of citrus hanging around in the background.

The taste is very malty as well. Big bread and caramel sweetness thouroughly dominate the flavour and I'm liking it. Very English like for the style as the hops don't really play much of a role here except in the finish and even then, it has just the slightest of a bittering effect.
It's medium bodied and the carbonation is pretty lightly done. The foam just won't go away, leaaving ring after ring on my glass after every sip. Hehe...the more I sip on it, the more I like it and I find that the alcohol is very well hidden.

Well, I'm certainly glad I got a chance to try this IPA and I'd drink it again without hesitation. Good stuff!

I remember having this beer a few months ago but never reviewed it.

Pours a reddish-pale color with a thick head of foam. Aroma is one of biscuit malt upfront with a very mild hop bitterness. Somewhat toasty as well. Taste is very bready/biscuity upfront with a lingering bitterness in the middle that weakens towards the back of the throat. A little chewy. This may be an older bottle as well (no date on bottle).

Tastes more like a nicely-balanced English Pale Ale than an American IPA.

Not bad. Would get a higher mark if it were fresh but I still consider it to be drinkable in this stage.

I received this beer in a giftpack from a friend. It came along with two other bombers, and an Otter Creek pint glass.

Beer poured nicely into the pint glass, creating a thick off-white creamy head. Very small bubbles in the foam. The beer itself was a rich orange-red color, very appealing and seeming to promise a thick syrupy brew

A light sweet note of malt dominated by citrusy hop scents, but still a nice sweetness to the aroma. Seems to imply a thin flavor profile but we shall see...

The hops are there at first taste, but do not linger. The malt seems a bit weak compared to the hop flavors, but this is a good thing for my tastes. The hops linger after a sip, coating the mouth with ctirusy goodness.

The mouthfeel was thinner than I had expected from the scent and taste. A bit more malt body would probably help this beer to appeal to a wider audience, but as a hop-head IPA lover, it's just fine for me.

This is a fairly intense beer. The flavors, while very appealing, do build up on the palate despite the thin-ness of the brew. I could probably have 2 or three before the flavors got too strong and crushed my tastebuds.

Sampled 10-20-2007. Pours a very slightly fogged orange amber with a tan head. Nose is highly perfume like and mildly citric in tone. Flavor is extremely citrus like. Grapefruit really comes to mind here. Seems a bit too odd to really work. We are lacking some balance here. Seems almost acidic, which goes right along with that whole grapefruit thing. Feel has a good carbonation to it and the liquid is nice as well. Overall this one misses the mark. The flavor profile is too heavy with the abrasive citrus tones. Happy Anniversary Otter Creek! (but better luck with next year's anniversary brew)

appearance - Orange-amber color. Poured a nice fluffy head, but went down to a ring. No sticky lace here. Not much carbonation.

smell - Malts and hops present here.

taste - Has a caramel-orange taste to it. i thought this was going to be big time hoppy but it wasn't. That is ok with me, nice balance of malts and bitter hops here.

nmouthfeel - Medium bodied.

drinkability - Not a bad beer, enjoyed this one. Picked this up in a specail box from Otter Creek. I think it was half price, was only $10.

22 oz. bottle poured into a nonic.

Pours a rich amber hue with a nice two finger head with some white head and good stickiness that holds on well. Smell is nothing like an IPA. A lot of caramel malt with a disturbing rotten grapefruit smell. Smell is pretty bad in my opinion. Maybe this is how Vermont does their IPA's or maybe this IPA has sat too long...who knows. Taste is um...bad. Well...flavor is a dirt like hop flavor with a spoiled citrus flavor. Lots of sweet caramel malt, definitely not an IPA-like taste. Luckily I didn't have to finish this entire bomber myself...and I found it difficult to finish my share. I have a feeling this one would have tasted a whole lot better fresh.

I was at the Springhouse Drafting Room and the nice guy a few stools down gave me a half a bomber of this because he didn't like it.
A-Cloudy amber color with average sized off-white head with decent retention. Good rings of lace after each swlalow

S-Big sweet malts all over this beer. Carmel, bready, toasted bread, plums, dired fruit and more. Some green and citrus hops emerge through the blast of malts.

T-Big carmel malt sweetness, the fruity aromas also come trhough in the taste. here is a distinct graininess in the malt flavors as well. Big bready and biscuity malts are here as well, keeping in mind sweet caramle is king. The citrusy hops come through in the middle to end but don't even get close to balancing this baby out. There is a medium levle of bitterness on the finish.

M-really snmooth and creamy with an oily mouthcoaing feel.

D-I defintiely finished my half of this bomber wanting a little more. I defintely could have doen the whole bomber.

Overall-A very different approach to the IPA. My notes actually say "this is not an IPA". It really seemed more like a "half-barelywine" if you know what I mean. That being sadi it doesn't mean I don't like it. I may seek out another bottle just to give it anoter try.

Pours a cloudy orange amber color with a big stiff off white head that fades slowly and leaves 3D lacing in its wake. The smell is very sweet and fruity with a bread dough underpinning. Candied orange, pineapple syrup and fruit loops cereal. Medium bodied, the mouth feel is well carbonated and hopped. Full flavored, very sweet citrus pineapple flavor. Quite unique, not your average IPA. The alcohol is detectable on the way down, but the sweetness hides most of it in the mouth. A good drinker...Happy 15th, thanks for brewing up something special for the day!

22oz bottle purchased at the brewery on a drive from NYC to Montreal. One of my first Otter Creek brews.

And it's a nice one, if a little unusual for an American IPA (at least from my West Coast perspective). Pours a nice deep orange, quite promising, with very little head. Surprise - the nose is led by sweet doughey malt, almost like a rich amber ale with a citrus hop edge. The taste is very nicely integrated - about enough hops to keep it in the style, but certainly much more malt-balanced than is typical of American IPAs. Texture is relatively thick, in line with its West Coast brethren. A bitter spiciness peaks out on the finish, almost astringent, not altogether welcome, and impeding the drinkability for me.

Otter Creek 15th Anniversary won't be replacing Racer 5 or Green Flash on my shefl, but I was very happy to try it - nice to see a brewer not afraid of the malt! - and would welcome another encounter.

As I understand, Otter Creek brewed this America IPA to celebrate their 15th anniversary. Cheers to that!

As I poured it gently into a glass, I noted the light cream-colored head building up, but not too rapidly. The beer itself is amber and hazy. The bottle doesn't say its unfiltered, but I think I remember the woman at the brewery (where I bought it) say that it was.

The aroma has the usual citrus American hop notes you would expect, but also has a surprising malty balance---surprising because that is not common of American IPAs---but very welcome by my nose.

The head disappears quickly to a thin lace. It is possible that there is some dish soap residue on the glass, but some of the lace does stick to the sides of the glass.

As I take a sip, I honestly want to jump for joy. There is a definite malty sweetness on the tip of my tongue, and another sweetness as well, like honey. I don't know if they used honey in this, but it wouldn't surprise me. As the beer makes its way to the back of my mouth, I note the thick body. It is uncharacteristically heavy for an American IPA, but I love it. The tart hoppy flavors come through strong, leading into moderate hop bitterness.

Overall, I must say this is my favorite IPA ever. I must confess, I am generally not a big fan of the American IPA style, and all of the reasons this beer is out of style are precisely the reasons I love it. It is so well balanced, and has really has the body to back up the hops. I know others may disagree with my review, so I wanted to make my bias open.

7/6/2007 $2.99 22 oz. 7.43% Brewed summer 2007.

Appearance:

A vigorous pour yields a hazy medium brown body with an inch of foamy tan head that is slow to settle.

Aroma:

Loads of caramel/toffee sweetness dominate the nose, with nary a hop peeking through; smells great, but not what I expect from an IPA.

Taste/Mouthfeel:

Smooth moderate body; roasted toffee malts dominate the palate from the start. By midsip a tinge of citrus hops make an appearance, but the sweetness of the malts perservere.

This is an enjoyable brew, but way too sweet for an IPA. I liked this quite a bit, and picked up a couple of extra bottles, which I'm going to cellar for a while, and just pretend they're not IPA's when I finally do crack them.