IPA
Soma Beer Co.

Amber/copper color that looked more like a marzen than an IPA. The head was off-white and pillowy--substantial. So, cosmetically promising. The flavor though, was pretty "meh". A little tangerine citrus came through, mild caramel from the Munich malts used, but bland overall.

Nice.

On tap at Bonds Tavern in West Orange. Pours a ruddy copper hue with moderate frothing. Pungent aroma replete with hints of biscuits and intense hops. Lacks drinkability. Mediocre.

 

Soma Beer Co. "IPA"
12 fl. oz. can, coded "SAN LEANDRO, CA SEN18 1753"
$2.49 @ Total Wine & More, Cherry Hill, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: I opened the can and it gushed out. Based on their coding I can't tell if this is old or not. It was adequately chilled to 36°F for at least two days so it's not that it was shaken up. Anyway... it's surprisingly poured a very short, limited head of off-white foam atop a very hazy, borderline "cloudy" deep golden body with an orange sheen to it. The aroma is malty, resinous, piney, and floral. There's a touch of apple to it as well, I'm assuming from the yeast. The malty note seems that it may indicate some oxidation but I'm not finding anything else to that end. On to the flavor... well it remains malty and piney, and lightly floral. I believe it is a bit oxidized but it's not horrendous. It's got a solid bitterness to it and that lingers in the finish with some pine and papery/cardboard notes but it's overall well-balanced. I'd like to taste a fresh version of this, and in fact, I wouldn't even write this review if I could figure out what their coding indicates - unless of course if it indicates that it is fresh. In the mouth it's medium bodied with a little bit of a dextrinous edge, and it's got a crisp carbonation. That's odd seeing as how it's got so little head retention. I just used this glass and had good retention so it's not the glass. It has left some lacing behind though so not all is lost. So, final thoughts. I'm a little one the fence on this one. My initial thought was that it's OK but it's pretty basic and could use a little more complexity. Then it occurred to me though, that this is a throwback, an almost perfect recreation of some of the IPAs that I was drinking in 1995 or so. It's not a perfect beer though, and the oxidation kills it, but hey - a lot of the beers back then were oxidized as well! There's no innovation to it, but at some point returning to the past IS innovation. I wonder if oxidation will someday become a selling point in beer. Brettanomyces has returned as a a star player, and that was the scourge of fermentation for ages.
Review #6,902

It's cheap, which isnt bad considering the competition. It just lacks some of the refined tatse others have. Also for a 6.8%er you can actually taste a little of the abv which isnt good. Not bad but nothing to wow you. Great price though.

 

 

 

Very nice IPA... Very underated. I personally think it's nicely balanced. I came across it on sale at Safeway for 7.99. Give it a shot, you may be pleasantly surprised.