Baykeeper IPA
Anchor Brewing Company

 

 

Canned August 17th and it just now showed up in a mixed 12 pack?

Pours a slightly hazy pale gold with a large billowy head of foam that lasts.

I get noticeable notes of piney hops in the smell, some fruitiness, and a rather substantial malt presence.

The taste is almost as malty as it is hoppy. Nice notes of pine, fruity, more than solid taste of malt that reminds me of an English style IPA..like the late Bridgeport IPA. Love the mild sweetness.

Smooth as silk mouthfeel.

Cool that this was in the pack so I could try it. It is right up my alley for a balanced IPA.

Picked up in a mixed Anchor twelve pack picked up on election day. Maybe a winner tonight? Good enough start with a stiff white head and interesting, balanced nose. A little more malt based and yeastier than a lot of IPAs. Definitely some floral and medicinal notes in the hops. There is a touch of fruit and citrus and a smooth finish. Based on the profile, I know the hops and malts are American. but this reminds me of an English style IPA as much as a domestic one.

I was elated to find this in a CAN for The CANQuest (tm) since I was stationed at NAS Alameda, CA in the East Bay from June 1997 to October 1989. They were the best 2.5 years of my life, followed by the best Summer of my life (Mai to October 1990) in Portland, ME. The base is closed now & I hear that there is a brewpub & distillery where the small arms range used to be! I qualified "Expert" on the Police Special .38 & I still swear by revolvers over automatics. I was an Oakland A's season ticket holder, my uncle was a professor at SFSU & life was pretty great!

From the CAN: "Baykeeper (tm) IPA India Pale Ale"; "San Francisco Baykeeper"; "Celebrating Baykeeper, fierce champions for a clean, healthy SF Bay."

I Crack!ed open the vent & beCAN a slow, gentle C-Line Glug into the awaiting glass. It did not look at all hazy so I CANtinued my pour until there was a modicum of liquid remaining in the CAN & stopped to regroup. It foamed beautifully, creating two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, eggshell-white head with excellent retention, leaving loads of lacing in its wake. Color was an oh-so-slightly-hazy solid-Amber (SRM = > 7, < 9) & if that is enough to get you unwound, then you must HATE NEIPAs' appearance! Nose had a pronounced pine mintiness underlain by all kinds of fruit, ranging from citrus to tropical & I was anxious for a taste. Mouthfeel was medium. The taste was ... tasty! I really know how to narrow it down, eh? This beer was what I CANsider to be a part of a modern phenomenon in which turn-of-the-century hops are melded with hops of the teens to create a mélange of flavors that perhaps should have been the case from the outset. I was astounded by tropical/southern hemisphere hops when they first appeared, but when they took over & pushed PNW hops out of the way, I beCAN to jones for that grapefruit & pine bitterness. This beer represented a new direction, one in which each camp resides together harmoniously. It really was not all that bitter, taking on a tea-like mellowness, instead. It was dangerously drinkable for its ABV & I drank off easily half of the CAN's 12-fl oz CANtents without even a backwards glance. 8=O Finish was in that Twilight Zone between semi-sweet & semi-dry. This one is definitely a (Bay)keeper! YMMV.

Poured from a 12 ounce can into a Shaker pint glass, date on bottom of can is 3-11-20, I hope this is the date batch was brewed and not an expiration date.

APPEARANCE: pours a beautiful and densely cloudy, golden color with one-finger, off-white head, excellent retention, the head slowly dissipated until a thin, unbroken layer of small bubbles remained, heavy lacing on the glass, medium carbonation.

SMELL: sweet bread and flowers, the nose is pleasantly subtle and does not overpower.

TASTE: the taste follows the nose, initially sweet bread and then a flowery, citrus hop profile that lingered in a good way.

PALATE: medium body and carbonation, somewhat creamy.

OVERALL: this is a beautiful beer to look at and very tasty, it's a sweeter hop profile and would appeal to people who don't like the more bitter IPA's out there, I would buy this again no problem and would recommend to anyone who enjoys the style.

Two 12 oz. cans poured into a clear glass liter mug gives a murky amber liquid with a little lace and head. There's a clean malt and IPA aroma, although it's not pungent. The taste is sweet and mildly hoppy. The malt/yeast contributions subside for a clean soft hop finish. This may be disappointing to most hop-heads, but it makes for a very pleasurable beer

Pours golden with head that does not linger. The smell is floral, earthy and hard to place. However, it is not unpleasant. The flavor does not strictly follow the nose, balancing floral hops and bitterness with neither standing out. It finishes rather dry with a lingering pine taste. The alcohol content is definitely noticeable.

 

 

12 oz can poured into a shaker pint.

Appearance
Golden. Good clarity. 1+ finger of creamy white head. Lively carbonation.

Nose
Grapefruit, caramel, pine, and florals.

Taste
Florals and grapefruit pith. Caramel and honey with touches of toffee. Zesty and florals hops finish it off.

Mouthfeel
Medium-light bodied, creamy, dry, and bitter.

Overall
A bit of a return to the English IPA style. I welcome the simplicity and delicacy of the flavor profile.

 

Anchor Brewing Company "Baykeeper IPA"
12 fl. oz. brown glass bottle, coded "10719" and sampled on 8/20/2019
$2 @ Wegmans, King of Prussia, PA

Notes via stream of consciousness: Well it's poured nice. It's got a two finger thick head of rocky off-white foam atop a slightly hazy golden body and I've still got a little left to pour. Perfect, that looks great. How does it smell? It's definitely brightly hoppy with floral and notes, and there's that Anchor house yeast in there as well. I have no idea what hops these are. They must be from New Zealand or something. I'm getting a lot of lime, and orange, and berry. It's interesting, but more importantly, it's a proper, bright aroma. On to the flavor... wow, that's fruitier than I thought it would be, although I don't know why. Maybe just because it's an Anchor beer and my thoughts weren't going in that direction. It's got a lot of floral character and orange to it, lots of berry, some peach, some papaya, some mild pine, and still a little bit of lime. I get the lime much stronger in the aroma, but it's still there in the flavor, or at least some lemon zest. Nah, it's lime. There's some citrus pith to it, and it's got a very firm bitterness in the Anchor style. It's less than some, but still clearly noticeable. I'm a little thrown by the fruit but I'm sure I can get used to it; and now I'm thinking this has some Amarillo in it, or maybe some Mandarina Bavaria and Mosaic. Maybe definitely some Mosaic. I can't figure out where that lime is coming from though. It's an old school IPA with some bitterness to it (I appreciate that), yet it's got a totally modern twist. Yeah, this is solid, I could drink a few of these. So to finish up, the head retention has turned out to be great, and there's a good amount of lacing. I figured that would be the case when it poured the way it did. Is this bottle conditioned? It wasn't that hazy. There's nothing listed on the label, but I'm guessing it's not. It's got that feel to it. It has that nice, snappy and crisp finish. In the mouth it's medium bodied, and although it's got that crisp dry finish it's not over-carbonated. I'd say it's standard or just slightly less, but what it does have is a very-fine bubble to it. They've definitely done a good job with the production of it. I'll recommend this and the only questions to ask yourself are will you like the hop combination, and will the bitterness be too much for you (NEIPA drinkers), although it's really no more bitter than any IPA should be.

Review #6,658

 

Pours a clear golden color. I get a menthol medicinal note on the aroma, matched by the finish on the palate. Light and refreshing. Drinks easy enough for the summer.