Ciechan Grand Prix American India Pale Ale
Browar Ciechan
- From:
- Browar Ciechan
- Poland
- Style:
- American IPA
- ABV:
- 5.4%
- Score:
- +6 ratings needed
- Avg:
- 3.81 | pDev: 14.44%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 1
- Status:
- Inactive
- Rated:
- Jun 09, 2015
- Added:
- Jul 22, 2014
- Wants:
- 1
- Gots:
- 4
NO SCORE
-
-
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Reviewed by Jugs_McGhee from Texas
2.99/5 rDev -21.5%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3
2.99/5 rDev -21.5%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3
5.40% ABV. "Grand Prix 2013" (but the Best Before date is 27.08.14). 500ml brown glass bottle with standard pry-off pressure cap and basic label acquired at the House of Beer in Krakow and served into a pilsner glass there. Reviewed live. Expectations are high; this is rated quite highly on other websites. "Elstr. 15.5% wag." Cost was 10 zloty.
Served straight from their fridge. Side-poured with standard vigor as no carbonation issues are anticipated.
No bubble show forms as it's poured.
HEAD: Two fingers wide. Off-white colour. Decent thickness and creaminess. Nice complexion and consistency. Nice thickness. Retention is pretty good - about 4-5 minutes. Leaves no lacing as it recedes.
BODY: Nontransparent copper of average vibrance. Has some faint orange hues, I suppose. Translucent. Looks fairly refreshing, I guess. Clean; no yeast particulate or hop sediment is visible.
Overall, it's a pretty standard-looking IPA with no obvious flaws. I'm generally optimistic, but it's far from unique or special for the style.
AROMA: Unexpectedly, there's some faint bread crust. Floral hop notes. Some orange citrus. Fruity esters. Caramalt. Hints of tropical fruit - tangerine and mango, methinks. Lightly herbal. Pale malts.
I can't say I find the hop choices horribly impressive based on the aromatics. It conveys some flavour, but doesn't seem ideal.
No yeast character, overt alcohol, or off-notes are detectable.
Overall, it's a fairly pleasant aroma of average strength. I'm curious to try it, but I'm a bit apprehensive.
TASTE: Hmm. The bread crust and faint toasted malt in the late second act are highly unusual notes, and aren't effective. The hop profile is far from impressive as well, with imbalanced notes of orange citrus, some tangerine and mango, ample fruity esters, light floral character, and some mild bitterness which goes largely untamed. I also pick up on some unbecoming herbal hop character.
Pale malts and some caramalt provide the unobtrusive foundation for the hops. I can't say the malts and hops work all that well together here; amplitude of flavour is subpar overall. Depth, duration, and intensity of flavour are all average.
It has some fair complexity and intricacy, but lacks subtlety and most of all balance - which is key in an IPA. It's somewhat cohesive, but this build is far from gestalt.
I guess I like it in a general sense.
No yeast character, overt alcohol, or off-notes come through in the taste.
TEXTURE: Overbearing and assaulting on the palate, without reason. Smooth and wet, but overly thick and hefty, sharply overcarbonated, and unnecessarily heavy and filling. Full-bodied.
Not oily, gushed, hot, astringent, boozy, rough, scratchy, or harsh.
This texture doesn't suit the taste or style all that well overall, and the fat heavy presence of the beer on the palate severely impedes its drinkability.
OVERALL: Not a great IPA by any means, but decent for a Polish offering. Still, I hoped for far better. I wouldn't even call this good per se. It's on the high side of average. Maybe Ciechan needs to rethink their best before dates? This could be old seeing as it says 2013 on the label; even if it was bottled in late December that means it's a good 7 months old. But their best before date is their choosing, and judging by this purportedly "within date" beer, it's not a particularly notable or good brew. I'd be interested to revisit it on-draught. It's drinkable, but unremarkable.
High C
Jul 22, 2014Served straight from their fridge. Side-poured with standard vigor as no carbonation issues are anticipated.
No bubble show forms as it's poured.
HEAD: Two fingers wide. Off-white colour. Decent thickness and creaminess. Nice complexion and consistency. Nice thickness. Retention is pretty good - about 4-5 minutes. Leaves no lacing as it recedes.
BODY: Nontransparent copper of average vibrance. Has some faint orange hues, I suppose. Translucent. Looks fairly refreshing, I guess. Clean; no yeast particulate or hop sediment is visible.
Overall, it's a pretty standard-looking IPA with no obvious flaws. I'm generally optimistic, but it's far from unique or special for the style.
AROMA: Unexpectedly, there's some faint bread crust. Floral hop notes. Some orange citrus. Fruity esters. Caramalt. Hints of tropical fruit - tangerine and mango, methinks. Lightly herbal. Pale malts.
I can't say I find the hop choices horribly impressive based on the aromatics. It conveys some flavour, but doesn't seem ideal.
No yeast character, overt alcohol, or off-notes are detectable.
Overall, it's a fairly pleasant aroma of average strength. I'm curious to try it, but I'm a bit apprehensive.
TASTE: Hmm. The bread crust and faint toasted malt in the late second act are highly unusual notes, and aren't effective. The hop profile is far from impressive as well, with imbalanced notes of orange citrus, some tangerine and mango, ample fruity esters, light floral character, and some mild bitterness which goes largely untamed. I also pick up on some unbecoming herbal hop character.
Pale malts and some caramalt provide the unobtrusive foundation for the hops. I can't say the malts and hops work all that well together here; amplitude of flavour is subpar overall. Depth, duration, and intensity of flavour are all average.
It has some fair complexity and intricacy, but lacks subtlety and most of all balance - which is key in an IPA. It's somewhat cohesive, but this build is far from gestalt.
I guess I like it in a general sense.
No yeast character, overt alcohol, or off-notes come through in the taste.
TEXTURE: Overbearing and assaulting on the palate, without reason. Smooth and wet, but overly thick and hefty, sharply overcarbonated, and unnecessarily heavy and filling. Full-bodied.
Not oily, gushed, hot, astringent, boozy, rough, scratchy, or harsh.
This texture doesn't suit the taste or style all that well overall, and the fat heavy presence of the beer on the palate severely impedes its drinkability.
OVERALL: Not a great IPA by any means, but decent for a Polish offering. Still, I hoped for far better. I wouldn't even call this good per se. It's on the high side of average. Maybe Ciechan needs to rethink their best before dates? This could be old seeing as it says 2013 on the label; even if it was bottled in late December that means it's a good 7 months old. But their best before date is their choosing, and judging by this purportedly "within date" beer, it's not a particularly notable or good brew. I'd be interested to revisit it on-draught. It's drinkable, but unremarkable.
High C
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