Alpha Male IPA
75th Street Brewery

Just had it on tap at Fat Cat NYC. Seems that it is not quite retired.
Pours a straw golden color with a moderate creamy head and lace. Smells citrusy and with some dank resinous hops. Hops forward taste, mostly piny but moderate. The carbonation is soft, the mouthfeel is almost creamy. The body feels a bit thin. A middle of the road IPA, but overall not bad and sessionsble.

Unfortunately it is a rare occurance that you can get the Alpha Male on cask. You have to either be a member of the club, or know someone who is, and even then you aren't guaranteed a pint. When they have it, they tap the cask at 5:00 p.m. and it's first come, first served. Good luck getting in the door, and even if you can, usually they have blown the cask by 5:30 or so.

This review is from notes.

It's served up with a good finger of head that just won't quit, leaving good lacing all the way to the bottom. Appearance-wise, this beer is a thing of beauty, just the right coppery golden-amber, and a little cloudy. It smells very much like what I imagine it smells like to jump into a pile of hops as though it were a pile of autumn leaves, except with an ever-present sweet maltiness.

The taste is all hops up front, grapefruit and orange with maybe a hint of pine, followed by a sweet and slightly caramelly malt. Then the hops bring up the rear, reminding you that alpha acids put the Alpha in Alpha Male. Absolutely exquisite, in my opinion, and you simply can't beat the cask mouthfeel. Carbonated, but not too carbonated. Thick and creamy and fabulous. This brew makes me wish I had a beer engine at home. I would drink it every day.

This one poured crystal clear, a light copper, with a rocky head with huge bubbles in it. It was served at a slighlty warmer than normal temperature, perhaps 40-45 degrees, which helped bring out the character of the ale.

The aroma definitely suggests dry hopping. Not sure if they do or not, but it's very citrusy, with very little malt peeking through at this point in the journey.

The taste is surprisingly balanced, with a "hop, malt, hop" profile. It's bitter up front, then the malty sweetness takes over, followed to the end by more hops playing the "remember me?" game. This isn't really overly bitter. It's just bitter enough. There are a lot of mid-kettle hops influencing the flavor, though. The malt itself suggests just the slightest bit of caramel. Otherwise, nothing but pale malts. This is quite good, to be honest.

The mouthfeel is on the light side, which only adds to the drinkability. It's certainly drinkable, if you're a hophead. It reminds me -- blasphemous as it may seem -- of Bell's Two Hearted. It isn't quite to that level, since Bell's has a cleaner malt profile, but it's damned near there. This is far and away the best beer I've had from 75th Street. Outstanding!