Fearless India Pale Ale
Dead Frog Brewery

2015-11-04
22oz bottle served in a big mug. I think I bought it at a Haggen's in Bellingham. There's something stamped on the bottom, but there's nothing remotely date-like about it, so I think it's probably from the bottle manufacturer and unrelated to the beer.

Pours a medium amber with a medium head and medium carbonation. Smell is bready, yeasty, stale hoppy.

Taste is sort of one dimensional. There's a strong bitterness with no real characteristics, there's a moderate slightly caramelly maltiness to it. It's inoffensive (although many might consider the bitterness offensive in its own right), but it's not too interesting.

Mouthfeel is very dry. Overall...it's OK.

 

 

 

 

341 mL bottle poured into tulip.

A: Medium Amber.

S: Toffee, citrus, burnt sugar. Hint of cut grass.

T: Toasted malt, citrus, caramel. There's a sweetness present that is not fully reigned in by the hop profile.

M: Medium carbonation, fairly smooth feel.

O: A relatively sessionable IPA. A tad sweet for my taste, but the nose was fairly pleasant and complex. Well worth the $1.92 I paid for it at the MLCC.

 

 

 

 

My IPA fixation shows no sign of letting up anytime soon, and this one hails from a BC brewery that has yielded some pleasant surprises thus far. This brew is a very nice dark red-amber hue with a robust tan head featuring great retention. Gorgeous visual presentation. Alas, the hop bill led me to expect some pretty massive tropical notes on the nose, and while there was a detectable tropical musk like passion fruit or guava, the hops were more on the earthy-spicy side. This is a malt-forward IPA (scope out the malt bill on the label ... Special B in an IPA??), with potent biscuit and toasted crust flavors along with some lighter fruity plum notes, with the flavor hops struggling a bit to shine through ... I do get some grapefruit rind, blackberry and raspberry, a little melon. The bittering hops do a better job of keeping up, and this one gets quite piney, tannic, and woody as one proceeds. Whew. Mid-range body with some chew, a tad prickly, and with a dryish toasty body followed by a crisp medicinal finish. Fairly potent stuff. Majorly malt-forward to my palate, coupled with dried pungent citrus rind spice and a floral booziness. Although I like more prominent flavor hops, this sort of brew keeps the IPA world diverse and the aficionado on his or her toes.

 

 

341ml bottle poured into tulip 26/10/13

A clear light copper with lots of bubbles feeding a large three finger foam that quickly falls to a pinkies width and then stays there leaving lots of random lace on the way down

S juicy fruit chewing gum, spruce, lime rind, tangerine, lychee, spicy hops, faint caramel, smells pretty solid

T more rind, faint booze, spicy almost peppery, lots of citrus and a little corn flake, tastes pretty good but I preferred the nose by a hair

M medium bodied, soft carbonation, a nice bitter snap with just a little grit and heaps of rind lingers hard

O I didn't expect much but this turned out to be a solid brew that I'd drink again, a strange mix of tropical, spicy and rindy hops but it works

I could drink this one again, not mind blowing but a respectable IPA and its not overpriced like so many beers I've had as of late

 

 

Clear gold with a white head, some retention & lacing.

There's a nice hop aroma (though not over-powering) with plenty of depth: dank, tropical fruit, pine.

Really solid bitterness, without being harsh. There's some really nice hop flavour here, with plenty of depth, but it doesn't have as much punch from the finishing hops as something like Red Racer.

Smooth, moderate body has a relatively crisp finish.

This one really comes together. It's not a brute, it's just a really nice beer. I'd LOVE to try it unfiltered. Although there's some really good flavour here, it does seem as though some has been stripped away.