The Trip XVII (Segal Ranch Cascade Rye IPA)
New Belgium Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to rawfish for this extra, another facet of New Belgium that I was unaware of until this box showed. 22 oz. bottle split with my wife.

The pour is a partly cloudy orangish. Nose follows up like word association, massive squeezed oranges mixed in with light floral hops. Might be something else, but the Florida Grove is wiping out any potential subtleties.

The Trip XVII (Segal Ranch Cascade Rye IPA) is like a rye bait & switch. The orange in the nose comes through strong, but it's infused with a lovely spicy bite the size of Jessica Alba's hotness. Much citrus, wedded to a slow-building but persistent bitterenss that dominates once the initial mojo has passed, mango, tropics. Intense enough that it's more of a sipper than a slugger.

Like. The strong citrus & the rye are like Sid & Nancy, without all the, y'know, punk & death & violence. Love the marriage. Very good beer that sticks a toe into the sea of excellent.

 

 

 

 

Nice enough. Murky apricot, good sized head, root beer foamy, lots of lace. Maybe too cold, but the smell is hard to distinguish. Get a little malt and grapefruit, but it is limited. Taste is pleasant, enjoyable IPA. Mouthfeel is fair - good balance, no complaints. Overall, I would session if it was the only beer at the party, but probably wouldn't buy again.

 

Bomber poured into my Samuel Smith imperial pint glass. Appearance is hazy dull gold with a fluffy white head leaving nice sticky lace, great patterns.

Smell is soapy, generically resinous west coast hops. A little lime.

Taste is a bit more distinctiveness. There's a nice interplay between the lime like hop flavor and the sweet spiciness of the rye. I still get that soapiness from the hops, but it's not as off-putting.

Mouthfeel is dry, slippery, medium light bodied.

Drinkability is pretty good, I like the complexity of the rye with the hops. That said, it's not an IPA I'll spend a lot of time thinking about or ever seek out. But if I walked in somewhere that had this and a bunch of standard IPAs on draught, I'd jump on it happily.

Slow-growing, thick >2 finger white head, leaving very nice lacing. Bubbly and pale orange/copper/amber brew, simultaneously pulpy and nearly translucent.

Aroma presents a strong caramel and honey malt base, with more delicate fruity hops - citrus and tropical. Slight pine resin and buttermilk biscuit through the nose.

Dry and sour; very surprising. Lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit - the whole bag of citrus. Not particularly sweet, and the malt backbone tastes rather flat, with less of an appearance than the aroma hinted. Strong rye grain influence that lingers long past the other flavors, joined by a dry astringency.

Slightly watery; not very lively. The lingering aftertaste isn't great. Mouthfeel is the weakest link here.

This beer starts off promising, with a great appearance and pleasant, albeit overall mild, aroma. The flavor profile isn't my favorite, but it's far from poor. Relatively poor balance and mouthfeel, however, really limit my enjoyment. It's drinkable, and not a bad beer, but I'm just not sure what they were going for, or if they achieved it.

No bottle date.

Attractive dark golden color with a brief pile of foam in the Duvel tulip. A little hazed. Quite light-bodied with a tart, snappy taste. Some resiny flavors with a lot of hoppy bitterness. Not much aroma. The watery sensation adds to the refreshing character, but it's pretty plain and bitter. I wouldn't even call it "grainy," as rye brews so often are.

Overall, this is pretty thin and sharp. It seems to lack the mellow peculiarity of good rye brews. But as an acidic, bitter IPA, it's a little lightweight for that category. And as a drinkable hoppy session beer, it's too strong. You can win, but if you're thirsty it goes down easy enough.

Personally, I think New Belgium, which is one of my top ten favorite breweries, should stay away from Elysian, which is one of my least favorites. From the 12 oz bottle purchased for $6.49 at Bottlecraft in San Diego.

 

 

 

Pours golden and clear into a deep tulip. Quickly forms a rising finger and a half head but with rather poor retention for a hoppy beer leaving messy lacing on the glass.

Nutty with some light cracker grain and rye spice. Hops are floral and bright with mandarins, papaya, grass and dried mango. Only knock on this is that you really have to get your nose down into it.

Malt is thin and lifting with tight bready flavor that allows some rye spice and pepper to come through as the hops bring grass and bright pine. Begins drying immediately, the bitterness is a bit dank and reserved. Rather refreshing and airy.

Light to medium bodied, perfect for a refreshing ipa and active carbonation that is ideal, lively yet doesn't interfere with the flavor. Alcohol is controlled and very drinkable.

Not exactly the most flavorful ipa but really active and refreshing. The rye spice is peppery and stands out above the fresh hops. Body and feel of this beer is ideal. The collaborative effort of these two breweries really paying off.