Shade Tree IPA
County Line Brewing

On-tap at the brewery and served in a pint glass; clear-ish warm gold pour with a creamy white head and excellent lacing; malty sweet brew with bready notes of caramel, the sweetness blends with some standard-fare citrusy & piney hopping to provide a throw-back IPA profile; hints of grapefruit and citrus rind, resin...hint of alcohol warmth; smooth, creamy body is fairly easy drinking.

On tap at the brewery. Not your typical NW IPA. More malty than hoppy, alcohol warmth comes on late. This brewery has plenty of room for growth by pushing the style boundaries.

This is quite a little gem. The look is a beautiful clear copper/amber color. The smell isn’t much, but the taste is very nice. This goes down very smooth with little bitterness bite. IBU’s don’t effect me as I could easily down a couple 100 IBU IPA’s, but those that don’t like the bitterness bite could do this one. The selection of hops is interesting and gives this a great flavor. Malty up front with almost a sweet and sugary finish. Will be picking up another one.

this is my first beer from these guy and its far better than its ratings, which seem curiously low for a pretty solid ipa, i mean, it might not be different or robust enough to turn heads or even really turn anyone on, but its not flawed beer in any way at all, its better than average, and was fresh and fairly priced as a bomber. not all the way clear, and with a little color to it as well, but i didnt find this heavy, unrefined, or malty really, a little honey sweetness in here is about all, and some body of course, but its dry by the finish with a clean fermentation profile and lots of room for the hops to do their thing. some higher alpha northwestern pine sort of character, and some west coast oily texture from the hops too which ive always been a fan of, the spice of the cascade hops in front of other hop varietals and what they do for me, but all are there, and its all real fresh. good carbonation, slightly exposed alcohol is my only real criticism, and overall a pretty good ipa. looking forward to checking out there brewery soon and trying some other flavors!

 

 

Amber with a nice white head.... Thick caramel malt notes are very out of place and pummel the citrus/piney hops that fight to escape but are ultimately beaten down on the palate and the nose. I think this needs to be much more hop forward for me to be a fan.

3.75/2.75/2.5/3.25/3