Hop Karma IPA
Terrapin Beer Company

Hop Karma IPAHop Karma IPA
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From:
Terrapin Beer Company
 
Georgia, United States
Style:
American Brown Ale
ABV:
6%
Score:
87
Avg:
3.9 | pDev: 10%
Reviews:
545
Ratings:
1,009
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.
Photo of mothmanscott
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
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, 2018
Photo of Lone_Freighter
Reviewed 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
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, 2017
 
Rated: 4 by Pens1967 from Louisiana

Oct 30, 2016
Photo of rodbeermunch
Reviewed by rodbeermunch from Nevada

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, 2016
 
Rated: 3.63 by iRun2Beer from Minnesota

Sep 02, 2015
 
Rated: 3.26 by ejwright02 from Pennsylvania

Jun 09, 2015
 
Rated: 3.57 by wulfie85 from California

Jun 03, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by bmeGT from Georgia

Feb 25, 2015
Photo of harpus
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
For a Brown Ale this is too hoppy for my.
Feb 23, 2015
 
Rated: 3.77 by rlovitt from New Jersey

Jan 28, 2015
Photo of OrestesMethuon
Reviewed by OrestesMethuon from Montana

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, 2015
 
Rated: 3.5 by misternebbie from Pennsylvania

Jan 08, 2015
 
Rated: 3.67 by DrMindbender from South Carolina

Jan 08, 2015
Photo of AFCPar-tie-ers
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
someone left a cake out in the rain
Jan 08, 2015
 
Rated: 3.55 by JNForsyth from Pennsylvania

Dec 19, 2014
 
Rated: 4.15 by srguin

Dec 18, 2014
Photo of MaDeuce
Rated by MaDeuce from Alabama

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
 
Rated: 3.25 by needMIbeer from Virginia

Dec 16, 2014
 
Rated: 3.9 by FightinIrish88 from New Jersey

Nov 25, 2014
 
Rated: 4.04 by joshtheford from Alabama

Nov 12, 2014
Hop Karma IPA from Terrapin Beer Company
Beer rating: 87 out of 100 with 1009 ratings