Rockford Bay IPA
Steam Plant Brewing Company / Stacks Restaurant

Pours a copper color with a nice tall white head that leaves a little lacing, good retention. The smell is hoppy with a bit of sweetness. Taste is smilar but there is a bit of malt in the background. It's a hoppy beer, but not as "in your face" as many other IPAs. A good pairing for my dinner. Mouthfeel was medium with average carbonation. Overall, not a knock your socks off IPA, but certainly a good beer to have with dinner.

This one was freshly tapped during my latest visit. served in a standard pint, the beer is gold with copper highlights. Bone white head with great sheets of lacing.

It has a nose of grapefruit, milled grains and crackers.

Nicely bitter with citrus and a bit of pinesap. It has lots of bready malts for balance. The taste lingers on the tongue as the beer is bit oily.

The hoppiest beer I've had here and I would have another.

This arrived with a thick, eggshell-white head with decent retention. The nose had a slightly malty aspect, making me think that it might be an English-style IPA. The color was a slightly hazy deep-golden amber. The mouthfeel was a little thin with a decent burst of hops on the tongue. The finish tended more towards malt than hops. Decent, but I want hops!

A copper ale, not entirely clear, with the best display of lace among all Steam Plant beers on their menu – no doubt due to the abundance of hops. The smell is hoppy yet sweet as thought the hops were a fruit, not a cone. As the big, bright head recedes, the aroma segues into yeasty overtones.

I can’t determine the variety of hops used here, but the usual adjectives – piney, citrusy, floral – don’t easily apply. Their shining attribute is a verdant quality that’s not shy in flavor. Rockford Bay tastes like a 1980’s recipe. It’s not as vivid as most northwestern IPAs and perhaps harks back to an earlier English format. Adequate but not standout.