Tramp Stamp
Clown Shoes

 

 

 

 

From notes taken in December 2013: Pours an opaque pale amber producing 2+ fingers of an off-white, frothy, somewhat lasting head that leaves a nice chunky coating of lace. Aroma is a heady hop presence of orange, lemon/lime zest & resinous pine, with some herbal/floral notes, spice, yeasty fruit esters in a malty background of pie crust, bread & biscuit. Taste is resinous pine, grapefruit, lemon, tangerine & pineapple hop hints, cloves, spice, alcohol, biscuit malts, with a sweet (fruit & honey) undertone. The finish rapidly drops this sweetness & transitions more to pine resin & bitter grapefruit with the bitter becoming dominant in the tropical fruit/citrus aftertaste. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with moderate carbonation, peppery but smooth & silky on the tongue with the light but lasting astringency the aftertaste.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured from glass bottle dated from mid-January.

(L) The color is cloudy burnt amber. Good head retention and nice lacing. (A) Smell is hoppy, pine and citrus. (T) Taste follows aroma but more of a bite. Mango finish. (F) Medium bodied with good carbonation. Smooth.

Usually prefer other style IPAs but this was a solid Belgium. Also wonder if date affected taste.

This Belgian IPA pours a slightly opaque, orange color with a medium to thin white head that leaves a nice lacing. The smell is hoppy pine and a little orange. I’ve kind of been into Belgian IPAs lately and some that I’ve tried I’ve found to be better than the sum of their parts. I’ve never tried this brewery, but I thought I would give it a go. The taste isn’t as complex as some of the style that I’ve tried. It tastes of orange, faint yeasty malts, and a generous amount of hops that leaves a bitter aftertaste. This is more an IPA than a Belgian. Besides the orange there isn’t really anything that separates this from a normal IPA and really just a fairly average one at that. Not bad by any measure, but not the best example of the style that I’ve tried either. Stone Cali-Belgique and Green Flash Le Freak are much better for example.

 

Just ok