Citra IPA
Dead Frog Brewing

 

Bomber poured into a 20oz nonic.

A - A thin creamy head atop a amber-golden brew, slightly lighter than the average IPA and clean as can be. Certainly a bit below average on appearance, and the label (see: ALL of Dead Frog's labels) downright sucks. Poor head retention and minimal lacing.

S - Definitely fresh fruit upfront, and smells super sweet. Not much of the traditional 'grapefruit 'n' orange-rind' you get from usual IPAs around here, not even mango either. In this one the fruit is much brighter. Pineapple, kiwi, some dank pine forest, but not a sappy pine character. Bready caramel malt, surprisingly robust and balancing. Light notes of pink grapefruit, passion fruit, toffee, and fennel(!?). Very different and really sweet.

T - Definitely not your average IPA profile. The usual pine and grapefruit are there, but strong notes of pineapple, earthy malt, toffee, and citrus rind. Has a distinctly English feel to it. Light notes of licorice and lemon. Lingering bitterness permeates the palate on the breath out. A little too much bitterness given the less-than-spectacular hop profile. Solid overall, but I was looking for a real treat from a single citra hop brew.

M - Low carbonation, nice and smooth, with a medium body. Finishes wet, but feels bitter as well and cloying.

D - Too much sweet, too much bitter, not enough flavor. For a single hop IPA this has a bit too much going on in it for me. This is my first Dead Frog brew, and I can't say I'm too impressed.

 

 

 

 

A: 1/2" cream coloured head over amber liquid.

S: Honey and some citrus.

T: Grapefruit and lemon with some pine dominate the taste profile overtop of a biscuity malt.

M: Medium viscosity and carbonation.

O: A refreshing IPA and my first citra hopped IPA, which tasted primarily of grapefruit.

 

 

bomber bottle. Low to moderate carbonation - perfect. Obviously filtered - very very clear. Too clear, I'd rather see some haze, so I could know that I'm drinking a hop bomb.

Smell is decent, nothing overwhelming. Some bubblegum yeast character, sweet generic maltiness, and lots of citrussy hoppiness

Taste is pretty generic IPA - still, it's yummy. I think there's a bit more yeast character to this beer than most American IPA's. I'd bet there's an English style yeast at play here; bubble-gummy, maybe a touch of banana and a trace of creamy butter. Or maybe that's just my imagination, and it's just a facet of this particular variety of hop.

Mouthfeel is great. Dry, but low enough carbonation that it's not thin.

Overall - a 'generic' IPA, but one that's executed very, very well. Or maybe I'm being a little generous because I just pounded back an entire bomber on a *completely* empty stomach, and any food right now would necessarily taste AWESOME.

Slightly hazy light copper colour, light white head, light lace. Smell is citrus and malt, grapefruit, pineapple, lightly boozy, big hop profile, lemon and slightly earthy. Taste is malty up front with a big dry hop presence, bitter throughout, citrus, grapefruit, nectarine, grainy at points. Light carbonation, good oily presence, medium body. Fairly average, drinkable but nothing overly impressive, moderately enjoyable. Thanks Boney!

650ml bomber poured into pint glass 8/6/11

A clear golden yellow with a soapy bone white two finger head that retains quite well leaving spider web looking lace

S big citric hops with a little toffee and bread

T what I smell but more rind and some lemon with a little herbal tea and pine on the finish

M a nice bite but just a little thin, bubbles give it some life but it could use more body

O respectable brew with no sign of booze whatsoever and reasonable on the bank account

I didn't expect much after trying some of these guys other stuff but I felt this one was decent and I may drink it again

A - Pours a pale straw colour, 3/4 of a finger of head with some retention and sporadic lacing.

S - Sweet lemon iced tea hops with biscuit and caramel malt on the finish.

T - Hops come through more earthy and less sweet, though are still nicely present. Slightly bitter and metallic on the finish though.

M - Nice carbonation level, goes down smooth and finishes with a touch of dryness.

O - One of the better offerings from Dead Frog, and good enough that I would actually purchase it again. By no means a mind blowing IPA, but certainly flavourful enough for this hop head.

A - clear golden orange hue, thumb of soapy white head that retained pretty well
S - mix of sweet mandarin and lemon citrus, light greens, and toasted grain and caramel
T - much more caramel and toasty malt than the nose, and the hops are more earthy woody with some lemon zest
M - medium weight, starts smooth moving quickly to a hoppy dry bitter
O - pleasantly impressed relative to many of their other watered-down offering besides their nut brown, nice hop profile with a good malt backbone

Seems there are two versions of this beer out there ; one is the first batch made by Gratham With before he left Dead Frog . The second is the recipe he left behind and sadly not as good. I made sure I got the first batch from Firefly.

First off the label is terrible and looks like a Master P reject. The beer itself is pretty good with lots of citrus notes on the nose and a solid IPA midbody . This is the best beer I have tried from them which considering they no longer have the brewer doesn;t bode well. As the BC beer scene rachets up the quality level Dead Frog need more beers like this to stay afloat

Graham With from the VanBrewers brewed at Dead Frog for a few months, and this was his swan song.

A: Bronze with a white head, good retention, excellent lace.

S: Great hop aroma, very floral, piny, citrus rind, mango, papaya, sponge toffee and candied pineapple. Really great.

T: Piny resin, bitter citrus rind, candied pineapple, sponge toffee and mango with a firm bitterness and a prolonged aftertaste. It doesn't seem like there's a lot of Citra here, I'd put my money on Chinook. I think there's a little bit of oxidation (too bad it wasn't bottle-conditioned).

M: Highly attenuated, with a fairly light body for its strength, modest carbonation. Plenty of hop acidity.

D: If you like your palate bruised a little, this a good drinker.

Appearance. Pours a pale, clear golden amber. Two fingers of dense white head that leaves some chuncky lacing.

Smell. Huge ripe pink grapefruit with a little orange and pineapple!! Just a hint of light malt and some grassy hops. Smells awesome.

Taste. Bitter grapefruit rind, grassy hops, some cardboard. Quite dry. Lingering bitter finish. Not much malt here.

Mouthfeel. Light body with medium-strong, bubbly carbonartion. A little thin.

Overall. That smell is just awesome and is worth buying this one for. Tastes good, but needs a little more balance on the malt side. A huge step forward for Dead Frog.

Pours a light amber from the 650mL bottle.

Nose is very pink grapefruit and, according to a room mate, sweet apricot.

Taste follows well from the nose with a bitter grapefruit predominantly with a nice bitterness not seen in their original IPA.

I would have liked a little more hop taste but it is other wise an above average beer. You will not be disappointed in this beer but more than likely not blown away either.

A: Pours a clear crisp amber with a thumb of tight head that has decent lacing when it recedes.

S: First thing i smell is a spicy hop character that is almost identical to weed. There is also a citrusy background of grapefruit and lemon zest.

T: Wow, strait up taste like a hemp beer, witch I find is extremely tasty. There is not to much pungency to ruin the pale malt and citrus flavors, but just enough to leave my mouth a little dry.

M: Light body, good carbonation and a dry tangy finish.

D: Been a while since I had a good IPA that tasted like hemp.

650ml bomber - my preferred way of trying a new beer (especially an IPA) on my local shelves...

This beer pours a clear, pale golden amber hue, with two fingers of thin, but tight, foamy white head, which settles slowly, leaving a random architecture of blotchy lace around the glass. It smells predominantly of grapefruit and tangerine citrus, with a slight Victorian soapy edge, and mild underlying caramel malt. The taste is more mild grapefruit hops, still lording over the supporting bready caramel malt backbone. The carbonation is on the low side of moderate, the body medium weight, and aspiring well to be smooth. It finishes off-dry, the modulated hops still standing over the malt.

What we have here folks, is a doppelganger - a Full Moon Pale Ale clone - reborn in the IPA style, and suffering somewhat for it. Tasty enough, but still more of a gap filler between adjacent styles.