Amarillo IPA
Triumph Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

A - Light Amber-Orange body, 1/2 finger head, slightly hazy.

S - Grainy and Citrus nose. My first Amarillo experience, not your typical American earthy hop. More citrus, herbal, floral. Nose was not particularly sweet which suggests that there wasn't a ton of crystal malt involved in the mash.

T - Good bitterness to it up front, well balanced towards the middle with the hops contributing plenty of flavors which mirror the aroma. Clean brew.

M/D - Medium body, easy to drink. Clearly the grain bill was designed to showcase the hops and I think they achieved their goal.

Pours a almost clear amber with a creme head. Nose is like hairspray. (interesting) Citrus intensity. Flavor is stringent. Tight citrus and pine tones. Earthy tones, yes. But mostly it is an interesting drawn out thicker hop thing. Feel is a biting carbonation. Liquid is thicker bodied. An interesting single-hopped IPA. I'm always down for when a brewer puts something out like this.

Appearance: clear orange in color with a 2" head that falls quickly. Some spotty lace develops.

Smell: pine, grapefruit, and lemon zest are up front while caramel sweetness linger in the background.

Taste: nice caramel flavor with the bold amarillo hop bitterness that creates the pine, grapefruit, lemon zest flavors. Some fruit sweetness lingers behind.

Mouthfeel: lightly crisp throughout. Medium bodied. Aftertaste is long as the bitterness glues itself to the tongue.

Drinkability: I enjoyed two pints of this on a recent trip, but this does not fit the "drink all night" bill. But tasty and drinkable overall.

After my last experience with Triumph (aka: the trainwreck that is honey wheat), I was very reluctant to try a brew that had not been reviewed. Glad I did, though.

A - Nice foamy head (not fizzy). 2 fingers quickly down to one, then it hangs around for a while. Perfect lacing. There is a fair amount of chill haze, but not so much as to be inappropriate for the style.

S - Definitely getting the characteristic fruity/grapefruit aroma of Cascade/Amarillo hops. A caramel malt base is right there underneath. Not really inspiring by any measure, but not bad.

T - Nice and smooth, with a bitter bite. Citric fruitiness from the hops. Nice malt backbone -- crystal + 2 row, perhaps? Alcohol is present, but not to the point of being off-putting. Pleasantly warming, so I assume this one has a fairly accommodating ABV (don't know what it is off the top of my head).

M - Just about perfect. Maybe it could be a weeee bit lighter, but that's ultra nit-picking.

D - Good drinkability. I wouldn't have more than a few, but still quite drinkable.

This is a really good brew, bordering on great. The alcohol is a little bit too present in the taste (just a little), and the mouth feel is just a little too heavy (again, just a little), but these things ultimately don't detract. Will go out of my way to get this again.