American-Belgo Style IPA
Rock Art Brewery
- From:
- Rock Art Brewery
- Vermont, United States
- Style:
- Belgian IPA
- ABV:
- 7.5%
- Score:
- 85
- Avg:
- 3.74 | pDev: 13.37%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 34
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Sep 18, 2015
- Added:
- Jul 24, 2009
- Wants:
- 1
- Gots:
- 2
SCORE
85
Very Good
85
Very Good
This is an American IPA fermented with our house strain of Belgian yeast. The beer has a soft copper body, malty and balanced with 70 IBU from our Columbus bittering hop addition. The hops then transition into flavoring hop additions during the last 30 minutes of brewing. At the end of the brew we add buckets full of aroma hops and ferment at a warm temperature. Then to capture even more hop flavors and aromas we poured more buckets full of hops directly into the beer (dry hop) and allow the beer to rest and absorb all the delicious hop goodness.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Reviewed by RblWthACoz from Pennsylvania
2.29/5 rDev -38.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 1.75
2.29/5 rDev -38.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 1.75
What a glob of a mess. Boozy with an odd sweetness and an earthiness in the mix as well. It's just. Eh. There is no defining Belgian aspect or hoppy influence going on. This does not work. At all. Waste of time, money, and my liver. Haven't had a drain pour candidate like this for some time now.
Jun 23, 2013
Reviewed by SickGnar from Pennsylvania
3.6/5 rDev -3.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
3.6/5 rDev -3.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
A: dark golden to more so light copper with a strong bit of amber hue. A tough hazy with plentiful multi-size floaties. No rising bubbles. Slightly golden off-white head that is smallish even after an aggressive pour. The head quickly settles to a skimpy skim. Not much for retention and minimal lacing.
S: Floral. Both from hops and from yeast / alcohol. Slight fruity esters. Hops are also just a bit citrus. Light and vague phenol / alcohol note. Doughy and sweet malts. The right aspects but a bit out of synch. Fair strength.
T: Hops are still floral but richer. They take on a good herbal backbone. In the finish they are more pine & resin & and a bit dank – especially as is airs and warms. Some tropical fruit flirts in as well. Citrus is more fruity & juicy than rind bitterness. Although bitterness overall is firm. Malt backbone is a mix of doughy & toasty with a good bit of caramel / crystal sweetness. Belgian notes are softly phenolic with a hint of yeasty & earthy funk.
M: Just a hair over medium body with carbonation softly balanced. Sticky sugars, chewy dextrins, and hop tannins are all there – but uninspired. Sweet to semi-sweet overall with a fair bit of hop drying in the finish. Ghost hint of alcohol warming.
D: 2/3 IPA and 1/3 Belgian. A fair take on the style. Nothing great, but nothing wrong. It just doesn’t go anywhere special. It finds the right notes – but nothing more – However it has a little trouble putting them all together. For the $ in VT it is a good buy.
Mar 13, 2012S: Floral. Both from hops and from yeast / alcohol. Slight fruity esters. Hops are also just a bit citrus. Light and vague phenol / alcohol note. Doughy and sweet malts. The right aspects but a bit out of synch. Fair strength.
T: Hops are still floral but richer. They take on a good herbal backbone. In the finish they are more pine & resin & and a bit dank – especially as is airs and warms. Some tropical fruit flirts in as well. Citrus is more fruity & juicy than rind bitterness. Although bitterness overall is firm. Malt backbone is a mix of doughy & toasty with a good bit of caramel / crystal sweetness. Belgian notes are softly phenolic with a hint of yeasty & earthy funk.
M: Just a hair over medium body with carbonation softly balanced. Sticky sugars, chewy dextrins, and hop tannins are all there – but uninspired. Sweet to semi-sweet overall with a fair bit of hop drying in the finish. Ghost hint of alcohol warming.
D: 2/3 IPA and 1/3 Belgian. A fair take on the style. Nothing great, but nothing wrong. It just doesn’t go anywhere special. It finds the right notes – but nothing more – However it has a little trouble putting them all together. For the $ in VT it is a good buy.
Reviewed by beerthulhu from New Jersey
3.64/5 rDev -2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
3.64/5 rDev -2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A: Murky coppery-ice tea coloring has a frothy/bubbly head that was thin and off white. Nice suspension of fine micro-particles float about in the light carbonation, A thin film band encompasses the glass.
S: The aroma showed light citrus, light toasted munich malts with a light floral scent from the Columbus hops. A bit disappointing strength wise considering the build up from the label of massive hop infusions and dry hopping of Columbus hops, which happen to be one of my favorites as well. (see Anderson valley hop ottin for hows it done aromatic wise).
T: Dry toasted caramel/munich grains with some pungent flowery Columbus hops. Toasty warm citrus shows up but it is clearly the smooth flowery hopping of the Columbus hops that steal the show here. Floral tulips with a great toasted malt base balances things out. The Belgian yeast is hard to pick up on with the toasted malt base and especially the use of Columbus hops, but slight signs of wet grains and a light musky nature could be had for those paying close attention. Intermittent flashes of herbal and spicy notes along with oregano and some dried woodsy oranges also were observed.
M: The mouthful was medium-full, malty with a warm toasted caramel-citrus warming the tongue along with some pungent flowery Columbus hops adding glow. Nice residual maltiness and flowery hop cone particles are left coating the tongue.
O: A great drinking ipa, especially if you’re a fan of Columbus hops. The nose was a bit weak for my liking but the flavor was smooth with a clean bittering, balanced with a good malt presence and a toasty warm reception. Drinkability was very good and smooth. While I would of loved to savor the pungently nature of Columbus hops more so on the nose, do not let this stop you from experiencing this beer, as the flavor is the main concern here for enjoyment good for multiple takings.
Dec 26, 2011S: The aroma showed light citrus, light toasted munich malts with a light floral scent from the Columbus hops. A bit disappointing strength wise considering the build up from the label of massive hop infusions and dry hopping of Columbus hops, which happen to be one of my favorites as well. (see Anderson valley hop ottin for hows it done aromatic wise).
T: Dry toasted caramel/munich grains with some pungent flowery Columbus hops. Toasty warm citrus shows up but it is clearly the smooth flowery hopping of the Columbus hops that steal the show here. Floral tulips with a great toasted malt base balances things out. The Belgian yeast is hard to pick up on with the toasted malt base and especially the use of Columbus hops, but slight signs of wet grains and a light musky nature could be had for those paying close attention. Intermittent flashes of herbal and spicy notes along with oregano and some dried woodsy oranges also were observed.
M: The mouthful was medium-full, malty with a warm toasted caramel-citrus warming the tongue along with some pungent flowery Columbus hops adding glow. Nice residual maltiness and flowery hop cone particles are left coating the tongue.
O: A great drinking ipa, especially if you’re a fan of Columbus hops. The nose was a bit weak for my liking but the flavor was smooth with a clean bittering, balanced with a good malt presence and a toasty warm reception. Drinkability was very good and smooth. While I would of loved to savor the pungently nature of Columbus hops more so on the nose, do not let this stop you from experiencing this beer, as the flavor is the main concern here for enjoyment good for multiple takings.
Reviewed by Durge from Connecticut
4.12/5 rDev +10.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4.12/5 rDev +10.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A light yellowish copper color, clear but with lots of smallish floating particles. The head is fair, off-white, with good lacing. The aroma offers a delicate bubblegum clove cinnamon with pear sweetness. Really different and enjoyable. The taste buds detect a grainy peat-like base with a clovey citrus hop. Very pleasant and highly drinkable. It’s medium body at most and presents a smooth, lightly carbonated feel. Very nice stuff, a mild Belgian-esque variation that should be liked by most any beer fan.
Dec 21, 2011
Reviewed by Sammy from Canada (ON)
3.97/5 rDev +6.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
3.97/5 rDev +6.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A very pleasant IPA. Good flavours and craftmanship to keep it balanced between distinct hoppiness coming through at 70 IBU and malty-yeasty Belgian component. Nice mouthfeel. Very good drinkability, excellent with food. Citrus hoppy aroma.Melon, spice.
Dec 18, 2011
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