Garden State IPA
Woodbridge Brewing Company

 

Mild hop flavor, slight bitterness, not a lot going on. Not a bad beer by any means, but nothing stands out. Still, one of the better beers the brewpub has on tap

 

 

 

 

pint on tap, pours a medium golden copper small head and not so much for lacing.. aroma of herbal pine, grapefruit citrus not to strong..taste was nice, not an overwhelming hop kick up front but a good balance for a pub ipa.. overall it's very drinkable and a nice ipa, but it doesn't match up to my favs like hopdevil or stone, just not hoppy enough although it was sure nice to have an ipa on tap in a local place which you just don't get in to many places..

Pours a slightly foggy amber. Big frothy light eggshell creme head. Nose is floral. Flavor is great. What an excellent execution of putting an ale through cask conditioning. Takes what could be abrasive flavors and mellows it, adding wood tones and keeping a slight salt tone (which would be more prevalent I think if it weren't for the cask conditioning.) Feel is smooth on liquid (as it should be) and the carbonation is a bit ore vibrant than I would expect from a cask. Regardless, this is a nice ale. Well done.

On tap at the JJ Bitting Brew Pub.

Poured a medium amber color with an averaged sized off white head. Aromas of citrus with light caramel. Tastes of oranges with very light caramel. This was more malty than hoppy. Lightly bitter. Medium lacing.

Notes from 9/3/05

64oz. clear growler, obtained from Paul68 in the March Growling at the Moon, poured into a J.J. Bitting's pint.

A: Pours a murky dark apricot. A pretty short, white head forms and hangs at a fat fluffy skim. Some decent patching.

S: Very subtle. The packaging called this an English IPA(not an American) and it smells of it. Soft, mostly floral hops with an earthy edge. Earthy, grainy malts are on par with the hops.

T/M: Bland bittering hops up front with a mostly tea like flavor and more of the earthy florals. The malts are much higher than I like in IPAs but have a pleasant toasted nut and quick bread flavor. Body is about medium and carbonation adds a creaminess. A bit dry and bitter through the end.

D: Unfortunately, every time I have an English IPA, it immediately makes me want an American IPA. Not a terrible brew and it'll be finished sometime tomorrow, but I think it would have been much better with much less bittering hops and made into a Pale Ale or mild. Very easy to drink.

Copper with a thin head that soon disappears.

The smell is doughy. Slightly foral. Very mild.

The taste is sweeter than I would expect for the style. Mild floral notes mixed with tobacco leaves. Plenty of sweet malt. Citric notes do come through a bit, but not enough to make it stand out. Ashy. Some woodyness in the finish. It's listed here as an American IPA, but I believe it to be more of an English IPA.

It is smooth, though I wonder how much of that is more because of the cask than anything else.

It's not bad, but I didn't like the tobacco/ashy characteristic. Something about it reminded me of an amateur home-brew that's decent, but nothing special.

Tried this one on cask with my lunch.

A - Came out with a nice golden color with a slight orange tint. A nice one and a half finger lacey white head stayed throughout the whole drink and only shrank a little bit. Left some nice lace rings on the pint glass.

S - A nice citrusy smell. The hops were definitely a bit more mellow than many IPAs (probably from the cask conditioning) but still gave a nice aroma. The malts had a nice sweet aroma.

T - Another tasty offering from JJ Bitting. The hop bitterness was present in this one and the sweet malts, gave it some balance with even a bit of candy sweetness coming through a bit. A nice balanced flavor that I can see complementing many of the food items on the menu.

M - A nice smooth feel with light carbonation.

D - A nice IPa that won't overwhelm anyone's palate. Definitely one I'd consider using to "bridge the gap" for someone who's never tried an IPA and wants somewhere to start. Also just hoppy enough to satisfy us hophead types when we want a beer with a meal that doesn't overwhelm the palate.

A nice beer overall, I recommend it to anyone.

I was given a sample of this by our waitress. I was considering getting a growler of their cask beer and I wanted a taste first. This room temperature beer was slightly hazy and a pale golden color. Wow, the aroma is extremely perfumey and very floral, like cherry blossoms. Even thought I caught a bit of Jergens land lotion in there! Once I got around the intense aroma, There was a creamy bitter smoothness that was flavorful and somewhat fruity. The body was borderline syrupy and heavier with malt sweetness than I thought there would be. There was an equally strong and bold hop bite that was tinged with grapefruit bitterness. Creamy and bitter smooth. The warm serving temperature of the beer must have brought out everything this has to offer ones palate. Overall, an interesting and unique beer. Very nice, highly flavorful. (but I passed on a half gallon of this)

Golden amber body with a firm table top head. Surprising little (as in almost none) aroma for an IPA, even one in the English tradition. Taste was properly hoppy, with a good malt profile for balance. I would gladly have had another if time had allowed it.

A good version of an English IPA.

J.J. Bitting's is good at what they do. And their IPA is no exception.

The appearance is golden amber with an average head. Aroma is fruity, albeit hard to detect because of all the other smells that fill the air in a brewpub. The flavor is hoppy, with an obvious presence of citrus rind and a hint of malts. Excellent balance.
Mouthfeel is snappy and dry with a finish much the same. A good IPA that may have more attributes than I give it credit for.

Nice golden color with a white head and nice lace. Great aroma, very nice smell, fresh and floral. Medium bodies with a crisp and smooth mouthfeel. Starts malt sweet and then hits you with more hop bitterness then expected. Not overpowering but a very nice bitterness. Another quality brew from J.J Bitting.

Experience a healthy hint of British ingredients; pale malt and English hops. Noticeably malty fresh, really alive. More bitter than most in this category, but not destructively so. Great smell, gardeny (if that is a word) fresh. As far as IPA's go this one is at the top as it is among quality cared for brews from a quality place.