Couch Potato
Bear Island Brewing Company

Taster at brewery. Pale golden pour, cloudy, small white foamy head. Light resinous, citrusy aroma. Taste brings woody notes, grainy, oily, hops fade a bit.

an imperial version of their idaho potato ale, which has become more and more popular around here. this one to me is sweeter and richer, and the size obscures the interesting part, which of course is the potato, its not as evident here as it is in the original, but this is a fine double ipa, dont want to be too critical. an orange tint from the tap, high headed, and with pretty good clarity and shine too. it smells sweet like honey from the grain, maybe lightly starchy and earthy, but the hops are southern hemisphere and quite tropical and herbal in this, melon and sweet orange and verbena and that sort of thing, springy and nice for this time of seasonal change, just a touch alcoholic but not overly boozy for its size. its sweet in the taste too but the hops are great, an almost noble grassy thing to it at the end, peaches and citrus and lemongrass before that, and enough from the grain for this to be very balance the whole way. clean on the yeast side but not dry, a little hop bite and warming alcohol to finish, but lots of bubbles to keep it moving. i like the original better, but this is tasty too. these guys are making some of the best beers of anyone in town right now...