Zack Morgan's IPA [India Pale Ale]
Morgantown Brewing Company

12/8/23 On tap at brewery in Morgantown, WV.

Aromas of sour cherry, mango, pineapple.

Good mouthfeel, finished dry and bitter. A bit on the thinner side taste wise, not necessarily a bad thing. Not overly sweet with tropical undertones.

 

 

 

Poured a clear, golden yellow color with a small, tan head of foam. It smelled of roasted malt, caramel and a touch of citrus. Tasted overly sweet and malty. Unbalanced.

A watery sweet malt-bomb. Had on tap at mad mex in robinson. Yikes...

 

 

 

Some background on this one, also. I recently attended, for the first time, a BCCA event, specifically, the annual Spring Thaw CANvention on Mechanicsburg, PA. I expected to be looking at antique CANs & other breweriana, but I was pleasantly surprised to find things up my alley, like cloth patches. I was flabbergasted, though, at the preponderance of current craft CANs, both empty & full. Some were for trade, some for sale, others just to share! It was like being a kid in a CANdy store! This one was through Jon Benedict of South Hills Brewing Supply in Pittsburgh. Zack's Pale Ale existed, but this seemed to me to be a fully separate entry. I also have to apologize for my approved pic, since the CAN is a panoramic scene of Zack Morgan overlooking a Monongahela River vista. I captured as much of it as I could, but I wish that you could see the obverse side of the CAN.

From the CAN: "Proudly crafted and [CAN]ned in Morgantown, West Virginia"; "Monongahela River at Decker's Creek". Zack Morgan is depicted in a tricorner hat, an animal skin jacket, [CAN]teen slung over his left shoulder, holding a musket in his right hand as Jacob's Ladders illuminate the background. Gorgeous!

The Crack! was loud & the CAN was fresh, so I reverted back to an inverted Glug. This raised two-plus fingers of dense, tawny, foamy, rocky head that slowly fell, coating my awaiting glass with sticky lacing as it fell. Color was an oh-so-slightly hazy Amber (SRM = > 7, < 9). Nose had an earthiness that put me in mind of an EIPA, instead. In total, it smelled of wild mint growing near freshly tilled soil. You will notice that the CAN simply reads "India Pale Ale" so if it in the English style & I or anyone wants to suggest a change, I will not be offended. Mouthfeel was rather full and dense, thick, even. The taste had a definite piney/minty bent to it, so it is certainly an AIPA, but the malts seemed to impart an unusual honey-like sweetness. Y'know, that would be a neat innovation to add a malt that will impart honey, rather than biscuit flavors to this style. Bready, as opposed to biscuity. I was really digging the taste in this one! For the second time today, I found myself wrestling with how to quantify a beer's finish. I would like to say semi-dry, but it really is dry, even if not as dry as I usually experience/find/expect in an AIPA. I would not mind a rack of these during an afternoon on the Mon.