Cardinal IPA
Noble Roots Brewing Company

 

a decent red ipa, sweet and bitter, fuller feeling and wintery, with a piney hop complexion and some real linger, good not great though, as there is some soapy character as it warms, something odd about the ferment, an almost greasiness on the palate, and more sugar at the end than i need, but still solid. the color is lovely, glowing deep red, not dark but high color saturation, frothy off white head an inch high, and light cloudiness to it but still bright looking overall, relatively dense too for its modest abv. the nose is citrus hops up front, a stick baked bready malt middle, and then high bitterness on the back end, with the weird almost phenolic element there too, more of that as it sits. lemon in the flavor, green pine, sappy and weedy dank, oily and fuller, lots of grain to balance, lots of body, lots of sweetness, toffee and brown sugar, an earthier aspect to the grain too, slate, paper, and herbal notes on the back end, bitter orange pith, hash, black pepper, floor cleaner. its good and has a ton of promise, i love the grain build, especially the color, but the overall level of refinement isnt great and this could use some tidying up in the ferment, it also doesnt warm up well. wintery and neat this time of year, but not my favorite of the many beers we enjoyed in this humble brewery.