Ipa
Pennsylvania Brewing Company

Crisp and citrusy, near perfect mouthfeel and aroma.

 

Pours an opaque amber with a proud white head. Floral and citrus fragrance. Crisp, slightly bitter, citrussy and lightly malty. Overall, this is a good IPA.

Capelli’s 2024

 

 

 

 

DATE: August 26, 2022... OCCASION: the last Friday before school begins--a beautiful night to enjoy a beer Jer treated me to when we visited in early August... GLASSWARE: Maudite snifter... pours a bold, nearly opaque orange amber body... its head is white, thick and clumpy with dripping lace at the glass's mouth... decent citrus, some dank basement hops, grapefruit, and grass... it doesn't have another dimension, but its brightness is winning... for 7%, minimum bitterness and little residual--the sip is clean and lightly puckering, with some oily reckoning across the tongue... the teeth are spared, and the throat receives a cleansing... the dank resin blankets the profile, with orange, pineapple, peach and apple--a pile of fruits that gives the mouth enough pleasant flavors to consider... German-heritage brewers have been no doubt forced to craft IPAs, and I consider Penn a great brewer for the old styles; this works well enough to give the hop heads something to order... at 70 IBUs, this provides a bittering finish that grows as the glass drains...

Pennsylvania Brewing Co. "IPA"
12 fl. oz. brown glass bottle without production codes or freshness dating

Notes via stream of consciousness: At first whiff I thought that this beer was skunked and I was going to go off on breweries that fail to put production codes or freshness dating on their beers. After a second whiff I realized that it's not skunked, but why does this bottle not have any markings? I recall, unless I'm wrong, that Penn does mark their beers so this one must just have gotten away. That happens. So, what made me think it was skunked? It's got a very herbal and dank aroma. What I was smelling wasn't skunk, it was weed! That's great, but now I'm finding something else weird about this beer, and I'll ask, where are the citrus notes? The label says that it's made with 7 kinds of hops and I find it hard to believe that there's nothing citrusy and fruity in there. So, truth be told, I've already sipped at it and there is some citrus there, so I don't know why I found it missing in the nose. It's nice though, so I'll take it, but I do find it a little odd. On to the taste then, the malt is bready and lightly caramelish. The hops remain herbal and "dank" but there's also a lemony citrus character to it. I'd say there's also some tangerine, a hint of mango, and a tiny bit of grapefruit. But what else is there? It's something odd. It's... it's kind of like onion. Ahhh - is this made with Summit hops? They can appear as garlic and onion at some times, and I think that makes real sense. Regardless, it's not skunked, but it is kind of unusual. I love it though; it's really different. Going back a bit, it's poured a hazy golden body beneath a creamy head of white. The head held up and the lacing is pretty good as well. It's solidly medium in body and gently crisp-then-smooth. My final call on this beer? I think it's great. I would highly recommend it just to try it and see if you like the hop character.
Review #7,563

Enjoyed at the airport location, 10/3/21, (and again at the airport, 11/2/23!) on the way to Florida! Nice bright aroma, citrus and floral. Very drinkable, goes down easy. Perfect amount of carbonation blended with the bright mouthfeel and sharp citrus bite. Really enjoyed this with a Reuben and fries (and again, the Reuben, 11/2/23, We must be creatures of habit!) !

I really want to split the rating for Overall somewhere in the middle of my options. I went with the higher choice. This looks good in the glass, smells good, but faintly and has a very nice delivery. It runs a little too sweet to be an outstanding IPA, but this isn't bad. Again, my rating will come off just a little higher than I would want it to.

 

 

Modestly dark copper color. Light white small. Small fruity nose but faint. Malty forward flavor with a good solid chewy earthy hop bitter bite. Bitter hangs out into the after. Very nice IPA.

 

 

 

Poured into a shaker pint glass: color is slightly hazy gold, head is off white/light tan with fine bubbles, head presents 1 inch thick great frothiness and lingering presence.

Smell reminds me of opening a hop packet while brewing - great floral, grassy, citrus and light piney hop blend.

Despite the 7 hop combination, the hop and malt combination comes across quite simply - crisp bitterness, floral/citrus/grassy hops, and lightly malty pale malt comes through pleasantly.

Mouthfeel is crisp, moderate carbonation, lingering pleasant bitterness, light sweetness then overtaken by drying hops.

Overall - this is a good IPA - clean malt, fresh hop, good bitterness.