Easy IPA
Social Kitchen & Brewery

 

Growler filled at social.
From new Brewer Kim, this is his version of the house IPA.
Clocking in at 7% abv. Pours a golden orange tone.
Smells of intense Cascade, malt, orange peel, brown sugar, pepper. Finishes with a nice malt biscuit balance to round out the spice.
Flavor is upfront pepper, cascade, orange, bitters, mixed with a malt-biscuit undertone, finishes lightly carbonated and with a lingering throat spiciness.
The beer drinks more like a 5% rather than 7 and is well balanced. Not an immensely complicated IPA, but a well rounded good example with great drinkability.

 

 

On-tap at Social Kitchen

A: The pour is a golden orange color with a white head. Some mild and scattered lacing to go with it.

S: Smells...acidic? Lots of citrus, such as: tangering, lemon, and maybe kumquat. There also seems to be a harshness to the nose that I would say is maybe chlorine/bleach. Though this dies away as the beer sits for a moment.

T: The flavor certainly is acidic. It's got an almost underripe tomato flavor to it. Other than that, though, it leans toward the malty side with quite a bit of bread. There is some bitter citrus peel on the finish.

M: The body is medium and the carbonation is moderate to high.

D: What a strange IPA, and I can't say that I really liked it all that much.

Had a pint at this recently opened up scale brewpub.

A: Slightly hazy gold with low head.

S: Fruity esters and peachie/apricot hop aroma. Lots of fruit, Rich says he dry hopped it with locally grown Chinook and he notices lots of apricot from them.

T: Follows aroma, fruity, stone fruits, apricot, peach, floral. Bitterness is subdued. Full mlat flavor with esters and med-high hop flavor.

M: Medium body with low CO2

D: A biggish fruity ale thats got some fun hop flavors. Not typical of a West coast IPA as the bitterness is pretty mellow but a fun beer.

On tap at the brewpub. Served in a fancy pint glass, the beer is a cloudy blond color with a finger of frothy head. Solid retention and lacing, but the color and clarity could be better.

The aroma is...mild. Chalky. A bit floral and herbal, the hops don't stand out much.

Herbal hop flavors are much stronger on the palate. Grassy and floral, semi-dry and medium-bodied. The hop character is somewhat astringent with an herbal bitterness that sticks to the palate in the finish. Though it's not overly bitter, there's an astringency to the hop character that I'm not overly fond of. Pretty middle of the road stuff.

Stopped in around lunch time today (Tuesday 5/4/10). The door was open so I walked in and was informed that they don't open until 5. When I asked if I could try the beers the brewer was very kind and poured me a sample of each and went up stairs to clean out the mash tun. Served in a kolsch style glass. I'd very much like to see this changed to an English IPA despite the 65 IBUs.

Pours a light brown color that is very clear and produces a tall white head.

Aroma is malty and moderately hoppy. It is more of a generic hoppiness so I can't tell you exactly what hops they were but I smelled a number of different types of subdued hints of pine and vegetables.

Flavor is a nice balance of malt sweetness, caramel, and what could very well be European hops. Again, the hops aren't strong enough to identify their variety.

Overall this beer is quite smooth, bitter enough to let you know it's an IPA, and has those caramel flavors that I've come to associate with English beers. This is really more of an introductory IPA for someone that is just experimenting with new styles. Or this could be a "session" beer for the American beer enthusiast/alcoholic.