5 & 20 IPA
Nedloh Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

Had on guest tap at Lake Drum in Geneva. Found it a nice easy drinking IPA. Nothing really remarkable. Had a nice session sipping it with friends/family while Josh spun the vinyl (Marshall Tucker). Maybe it was the groove, but I liked the beer on it own merits too.

 

 

 

This beer was served on tap at Nedloh Brewing Company’s taproom in Bloomfield, New York. From a flared tasting glass shown a beer of pale wheaty yellow. A creamy one finger head of tight white foam crowned the liquid, showing nice enough retention. Wavy sheets of lacing were left in its wake. A chill haze obscured clarity, but no sediment was noted. Carbonation appeared to be moderate. The aroma offered notes of heavy synthetic lemon cleaner and choppy citric hoppiness, harsh aluminum, light plastic phenols, soft black peppery booziness, honey, concrete, wood lacquer, partially toasted pale malts, amber grain brush, and adjuncty filler malt. The taste was much, much less robust, with teasing hints of a more bittered and grassy hop watered through with pale and corny, adjuncty malts, whole wheat and oatmeal crackers, simple but brassy ale yeastiness, straw, tart lemon rind, manila envelope, and plastic garbage bags. The body was most certainly light, while carbonation was higher than it appeared. Otherwise, the mouthfeel was watered and thin to the lips, with only introductory slurp, smack, cream, or froth. The mouth was left wetted, without coating or remarkable dryness. The abv was appropriate, and the beer drank back fine.

Overall, as huge hopheads, we were a bit disappointed with this one. The grain came across on the cheaper side, while the hops felt faded, rushed, and washed out. This is most certainly due in part to the general push going on right now in craft beer where if it isn’t a “quadruple IPA”, or something equally as crazy, then it isn’t worth anyone’s time. We can admit that we can sometimes fall victim to this trend, but we are aware of it, so try and take things in stride, for what they are, with the brewer’s intentions and goals in mind. That said, we just wished for a fuller, more refined beer with their IPA. The body and feel were the biggest offenders here, in turn negatively affecting the flavoring. The aroma was actually our favorite thing about this one, but the taste just couldn’t follow suit, taking a more bittered but softer turn.

 

Had a taster at the grand opening.

Look- a light coloured IPA, pretty standard.
Smell- first hits you with a nice hoppy scent of citrus and pine, follows with more sour smell
Taste- like the smell the hops hit you first- a decent citrusy taste, making it a standard IPA. Then the weird sour aftertaste that has become standard with Nedloh's beers hits.
Feel- Average mouhfeel, nothing special, but fine.

Overall- this would be a perfectly good IPA if they can just get rid of the off flavours in their beers. I would be willing to taste this beer again if I hear they have cleared up this problem.