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Hop Karma IPA
Terrapin Beer Company
- From:
- Terrapin Beer Company
- Georgia, United States
- Style:
- American Brown Ale
- ABV:
- 6%
- Score:
- 87
- Avg:
- 3.9 | pDev: 10%
- Reviews:
- 545
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Dec 08, 2018
- Added:
- Apr 02, 2007
- Wants:
- 78
- Gots:
- 65
"The Terrapin Hop Karma IPA (formerly known as the India Style Brown Ale) is a head on collision between a hoppy, west coast IPA and a complex, malty brown ale. Brewed with 5 varieties of hops and 7 different malts, this hybrid style represents the best of both worlds." 65 IBU
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by treehugger02010:
Reviewed by treehugger02010 from Pennsylvania
3.72/5 rDev -4.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
3.72/5 rDev -4.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
I got this bottle from the Terrapin variety case that I bought from Bryn Mawr Beverage in Rosemont, PA. I poured it into a pint glass.
Appearance: The body is a dark opaque dark brown/black color. The head was a light tan color, very thick, lots of sticky lacing, great retention and medium sized bubbles.
Smell: The aromas are nutty, toffee and earthy.
Taste: The flavors are roasty, hints of citrus (orange or grapefruit) and maybe some mocha.
Mouthfeel: The mouthfeel is crisp with a very thin body.
Drinkability: This beer is pretty good
Don't drink and review.
Jan 10, 2010Appearance: The body is a dark opaque dark brown/black color. The head was a light tan color, very thick, lots of sticky lacing, great retention and medium sized bubbles.
Smell: The aromas are nutty, toffee and earthy.
Taste: The flavors are roasty, hints of citrus (orange or grapefruit) and maybe some mocha.
Mouthfeel: The mouthfeel is crisp with a very thin body.
Drinkability: This beer is pretty good
Don't drink and review.
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by mothmanscott from Georgia
4.24/5 rDev +8.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
4.24/5 rDev +8.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
From notes 7/15/12: Pours dark brown producing 2+ fingers of soap bubble froth, lasting head that leaves beautiful webby lacing. Aroma is roasted malt, prune, fig, raisin, dark chocolate, dark toasted bread with a hoppy pine and grass background. Taste is raw bitter cocoa and roasted malt, not sweet with subdued dark fruits when compared against the promise of the nose; hoppy throughout the sip but intensifying from the middle through the peppery finish and into the aftertaste. Mouthfeel is moderate to slightly heavy bodied with low-moderate carbonation, lively but astringent in the aftertaste.
Dec 08, 2018Reviewed by Lone_Freighter from Vermont
3.75/5 rDev -3.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.75/5 rDev -3.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
The pour has a dark brown color and leaves the same colored body slightly clear around the edges, two finger off white foamy head gently recedes and leaves some spider web foamy lacing in the wake. The smell has the hops up front, subdued malts trying to get through but mostly stays underneath the hops, gets slightly nutty as it warms The taste is bittersweet through a nice combination of hops to malts, slightly nutty. The palate is about medium on the body, comes across sessionable, and has a slightly sweet aftertaste and a sticky finish. Overal, whether an American Brown Ale or an American IPA, I like it for the most part.
Jun 24, 2017Reviewed by rodbeermunch from Nevada
4.13/5 rDev +5.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
4.13/5 rDev +5.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Dark brown, tan head at a full inch. Aroma hit with the best of both worlds, darker malts, almost cocoa and lactose like sweetness, but also an array of piney hops.
Truly all the best parts of a brown ipa. Hoppy, smooth, toffee, nutty, caramel, chewiness.
One of the more exciting brown ales out there. Well done.
Feb 24, 2016Truly all the best parts of a brown ipa. Hoppy, smooth, toffee, nutty, caramel, chewiness.
One of the more exciting brown ales out there. Well done.
Rated by harpus from Alabama
2.94/5 rDev -24.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
2.94/5 rDev -24.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
For a Brown Ale this is too hoppy for my.
Feb 23, 2015Reviewed by OrestesMethuon from Montana
3.81/5 rDev -2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.81/5 rDev -2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Deep, dark brown, with moderate head, this is certainly a complex ale: Hop Karma is surprisingly a super clean, crisp, yet malt-blown-up brown: caramelized sugars sorghum punch the tongue, but quickly fizzle into a notably unexpected high-effervescence. The latter aspect really buoys the beer: the hops don't come on as strong as one might expect—I certainly think this is more of an (impressively) hopped-up brown than “a head on collision” between a west-coast IPA and a brown—but what carries those hop flavors that are present is the bright, bubbly thinness this brown achieves. Moreover, it's surprisingly free of hop-acid bitterness; indeed, while extremely clean—as aforementioned—this is achieved mostly with crisp bite and a bit of tart grassiness, which I suppose is what justifies the gesture at a specifically-west-coast IPA. This is all despite a turbidity and depth of brownness that leaves the ale almost opaque.
But all in all, given the very winning concept—especially given my personal tastes (loving both browns as well as west-coast IPAs, including and especially Terrapin's own Hi-5)—I found Hop Karma a little disappointing. It is—as I wrote above—much more a tweaked brown than a true intersection of styles; and, moreover—despite operating with a softer touch than most browns (even those especially hop-heavy)—it's still the robust browned sugars that predominant nearly every aspect of this beer. The sugar-explosion of the nose, like the front and linger of the flavors, really registers this as an ale that isn't as much a “hybrid style that represents the best of both worlds” as it is a well-modified version of one style, bringing in elements from the world of the other.
Jan 15, 2015But all in all, given the very winning concept—especially given my personal tastes (loving both browns as well as west-coast IPAs, including and especially Terrapin's own Hi-5)—I found Hop Karma a little disappointing. It is—as I wrote above—much more a tweaked brown than a true intersection of styles; and, moreover—despite operating with a softer touch than most browns (even those especially hop-heavy)—it's still the robust browned sugars that predominant nearly every aspect of this beer. The sugar-explosion of the nose, like the front and linger of the flavors, really registers this as an ale that isn't as much a “hybrid style that represents the best of both worlds” as it is a well-modified version of one style, bringing in elements from the world of the other.
Rated by AFCPar-tie-ers from South Carolina
2.61/5 rDev -33.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.25
2.61/5 rDev -33.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.25
someone left a cake out in the rain
Jan 08, 2015Rated by MaDeuce from Alabama
4.53/5 rDev +16.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
4.53/5 rDev +16.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
very good beer I could see myself drinking this in the morning with a meal
Dec 17, 2014
Hop Karma IPA from Terrapin Beer Company
Beer rating:
87 out of
100 with
1009 ratings
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