Shieldback
Mountain Rambler Brewery

On tap at Mountain Rambler Brewery

A: Pours golden amber with a frothy eggshell white head that settles to a light layer and laces very nicely.

S: Citrus, resinous and herbal notes, a little stone fruit, a bit floral, slightly toasty bready malt, and a touch of caramel sweetness.

T: Resinous and herbal, citrus, grapefruit, lemon, and orange, a little stone fruit, apricot and peach, plus hints of black currant, floral notes, slightly toasty bready malt, and a touch of caramel sweetness.

M: Medium body, moderate carbonation.

O: Drinks like an old school American IPA. Nice balance of malt and hops. Rock solid brew.

fantastic brew, courtesy of my homie who lives out that way cruising through. there must be some strength variance batch to batch, as my can lists 6.7% abv. i really thought highly of this, and my discerning neighbor liked it quite well too. it has wonderful balance, id call it old school, but this is more pale than amber, and despite having a lot of malt character, it stays dry and hop driven, almost english to me on the grain side, which is a nice touch for this, subtle honey, graham cracker, plain bagel, and bread crust to it, a perfect foundation for hops that hit with pine, gin, and oddly enough a little ripe red berry, cool hop complexion right off the bat, and the nose and the taste are essentially identical. definite pine in the flavor, a touch of weedy dankness but this is neither sticky in texture nor overly resinous or anything in taste, i get some slight sappy taste, a bit of bitter citrus, but its all pretty restrained. red fruit on the back end, light orange and lemon, the malt right there with the hops the whole way. i love the smoothness of feel, the soft medium body, the clean ferment, and the subtle residual sweetness this has which helps the hops linger. really tasty brew, incredibly drinkable, this could easily be an everyday drinker for me. enjoyable around the campfire, and now thats two nice ones from mountain rambler in my experience, they seem to have a good thing going. this is timeless and even essential ipa. yum!