Marcia Marcia Marcia
Counterbalance Brewing Company

all of the hoppy stuff we had in here was very good, impressively good on a few of them, and this is solid, it just wasnt one of the standouts for me, a little more conventional, a little less radical and unique on the hop side, and more old school, more malt balanced, more bitter, neat that they are doing a whole bunch of types of ipa here. this one has a little it of an amber color to it, a richer look with a lathery white head on it from the tap that settles down to a thin film after a minute or so. the nose is lightly spicy, pine forward, with some bitter citrus too, could be simcoe or centennial or something, but definitely higher alpha northwestern type hops, some crystal malt as well, and an almost invisible ferment. the flavor is similar, the hops start early and run the duration, at times hitting grapefruit, others more spruce, but its all relatively familiar and there is nice balance from the grain, which is more nutty and toasted than sweet, which i also prefer most of the time in the style. its not yeasty but i taste a little more from the ferment than i could smell, not english but something there right at the end, slightly bready, not unclean but not irrelevant either. medium body, fine carbonation, and overall not bad, it was just the least remarkable of the several hoppy offerings we drank on in here. fresh and well proportioned, but this beer has been brewed a billion times...