Newcastle / Caledonian Brewery / British Session IPA
The Caledonian Brewing Company

 

 

Pours a gold brown with a light head. Smells of floral hops and a little like fresh cut grass. Taste was malt shock at first sip. More caramel, molasses, and honey than I would have expected. There is some floral and clove that comes through with a lemon high note. After a few sips it grew on me and I decided I rather like this one. Feel is nice and on a heavier side. Smooth with little carbonation and a resinous and lightly metallic finish. A better sipping beer on the dessert side. Overall I enjoyed it and I'll have another!

A good beer overall. Very subtle hops. Big time caramel sweetness, almost too much. Berries, fruit on the nose and taste. Super smooth. I like, but don't love. Have had much better genuine British IPAs.

Aroma is fruit, slight spices and bitter-like. The flavor is pale malts, fruit/mild berries, hops and a mix of tart and slight heat/bitterness in the finish.

 

12 ounce bottle into pint glass, bottled on 2/19/2015. Pours slightly hazy orange/amber color with a 2 finger dense and rocky off white head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice dense soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of grapefruit, lemon zest, orange peel, plum, pear, apple, light pepper/pine, honey, light caramel, toasted bread, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of citrus/earthy hops, fruity yeast, and moderate bready malt notes; with solid strength. Taste of grapefruit, lemon zest, orange peel, plum, pear, apple, pepper, pine, honey, light caramel, toasted bread, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Good amount of piney/spicy bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of grapefruit, lemon/orange peel, plum, pear, apple, pepper, pine, toasted bread, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Very nice robustness, complexity, and balance of citrus/earthy hops, fruity yeast, and moderate bready malt flavors; with a nice malt/bitterness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Good amount of dryness from bitterness as well. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately sticky/resinous, and lightly creamy/bready mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with zero warming present after the finish as expected of 5.1%. Overall this is a very good English IPA style. All around good complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/earthy hops, fruity yeast, and moderate bready malt flavors; and very smooth and easy to drink. A very enjoyable offering.

A: A crystal clear amber, with a small amount of white head on top.

S: Caramel sweetness with a bit of a floral hops, almost cloying.

T: Holy cloying beer batman! The sweetness is abrupt with light floral hops. There is a touch of bitterness in the finish. Seems like the sweet tooth version of an English IPA.

M: Medium thick in body, with medium carbonation, slightly dry finish.

O: Overall this beer is not for me.. I like what the hops are doing, but just too cloying for my taste.

 

 

 

12 oz bottle, brewed by Caledonian, with an incomprehensible code stamp.

An excellent session pale ale, with more sweet malt and less hoppy bitterness and earthiness than usually found in English IPAs. Excellent mouthfeel with medium+ carbonation that is notably soft.

O: this is a good example of beneficial collaboration; in this case, largely a positive influence of Caledonian.

 

 

A: Pours a clear gold with a fluffy, lingering white mousse.

S: Aromas of lemon rind, cracked pepper, biscuit, nougat, caramel, white grapefruit, and kumquat fill the nose.

T: Notes of caramel, nougat, biscuit, lemon rind, white grapefruit, kumquat, leather, and cracked pepper fill the mouth. The finish is bitter, offering a wash of pepper, leather, and bitter citrus flavors.

M: Medium-bodied and dry. Carbonation is crisp, though still somewhat delicate.

O: Not a bad English IPA, but also not great either, this beer does a good job of presenting the aromas and flavors of the hops, but fails to provide an adequate malt balance. For this reason, this ale comes off as being rather one-dimensional. As such, I wouldn't turn down this ale if it were offered to me, but I also would not go out of my way to track it down again.

 

 

 

 

Newcastle / Caledonian Brewery / British Session IPA - The Caledonian Brewing Company. Poured from the bottle into the glass, this brew's head is barely there, but still very finely porous. Lacing here is spotty, and the body of this beer is clear light amber.

I smell faint hops for an IPA with a maltier backbone.

You can taste the hops in this beer much more than you do in the aroma. Again, a malty backbone. This becomes more balanced as the beverage warms up, at least with this experience.

This beer's mouthfeel is smooth and clean. No hop oil lingering on the tongue, which I personally like.

Overall, I'll give Newcastle / Caledonian Brewery / British Session IPA - The Caledonian Brewing Company a 4.25. Another solid collaborative effort of the "Best of Britain" box.