Scratch Beer 45 - 2011 (Experimental American IPA)
Tröegs Brewing Company

 

 

 

Tulip Glass (June 2011 - Phila. Beer Week)

A: hazy orange with thick, lingering head; good lacing.

S: subtle but clear aroma of citrus, hops and some lemon.

T: Start with the citrus flavors before ending with the hops bitterness. Very well balanced and stronger flavors than the aroma indicates. No one flavor over powers the others. The ABV is there but again, not over powering,

M: smooth and lighter bodied than most IPAs; crisp

O: great IPA. very refreshing and easy to drink more than a few.

 

 

 

 

12 oz bottle to pint glass. Case purchased at the brewery. Sampled 8/19/11. I don't usually review the same beer from different serving types but, I believe my experience from the bottle was somewhat redeeming.

A: A scant 1 finger head of off-white bubbles sits above an orange, glowing body, very hazy.

S: Light malty notes with a crusty bread and light caramel back bone. The hops are heavy featuring juicy, pithy grapefruit, orange and dank all the way around.

T: Moderately sweet upfront with a semi-dry, bitter finish. The unlisted ABV of 7% comes through a bit. In addition to the aromas, overly-ripe pineapple comes through on the palate as well.

M: Medium body, oily texture and fizzy carbonation with a bitter finish.

O: Not great, but much better than my experience on cask.

Pours a slightly hazy golden straw color with moderate bubbled head that settles into a nice cap with some small sheets of lacing.

The aroma is of a nice fresh hop, nothing buddy but it is floral. The hops brings a subtle note of lemon. Not much else, nothing incredibly complex. Not a very strong aroma.

The flavor starts off with a floral hop and transitions into a piney profile. There is some orange citrus notes as well from the hops. The hops are supported by a honey like malt which adds the perfect amount of sweetness. Again, nothing terribly complex but it is good.

Moderate body with tingly carbonation. Quite smooth on the palate but does finish with a light asprin like bitterness. Lingers a little in the aftertaste.

A nice simple AIPA. Good balance between the sweet malt and the hops. Enjoyable.

on tap at khyber in philly

Pours a clouded orange color with some golden hues. Thick white head retains with fluffy film and layers of lacing on the glass.

Plenty of citrus in the nose with grapefruit and orange. A little sweet with a note of bready caramel. Not terribly complex up front.

Bitter and juicy with a decent splash of hoppiness. Citrus driven by grapefruit, tangerine, and orange. Softer malt backbone with caramel and biscuit breadyness. Finishes bitter and juicy.

Medium body, well carbonated, sticky and juicy on the tongue. A decent enough IPA, but I definitely prefer Perpetual.

On tap at Alewife for Baltimore Beer Week. Was hoping they would get the new fresh hop scratch beer (49 I believe), but no such luck.

The beer pours a slightly hazy, golden amber color with good head retention and lacing. The nose is all IPA goodness, with dry citrus, some light leafy tobacco, light pine and some underlying tropical fruit from the malt. The flavor profile tends to replicate the nose, except there's a bit more of a tropical fruit presense than I expected. I'm also picking up a hint of onion flavor as well. The beer is pretty well balanced otherwise, with nice hoppy bitterness on the finish. There's a hint of alcohol in the dry finish as well, but it's not too obtrusive. Mouthfeel is medium bodied otherwise, with a fairly long, tropical fruit meets hoppy bitterness finish.

A nice enouogh beer, but I have to confess that these IPA's from Troegs (during the scratch series) are all starting to run together. For that matter, I didn't think this beer all that different from Troeg's perpetual IPA. Still a nice beer, even if it didn't exactly wow me.

From notes taken at the Armsby Abbey Stone night.

A - Poured into a standard pint glass a light orange hue with a good one and a half finger head that leaves really nice side lacing and a good healthy foam blanket.

S - Very light citrus hops (pine/grapefruit) and malts. Unfortunately I dont get any tropical hops.

T - Like the nose, unfortunately I get no tropical notes. There are good grapefruit and pine hops though, and it is really, really tasty.

M - Just great. Sharp carbonation, crisp dry finish, yet still lightly juicy. Delicious brew.

O - Overall this was a really solid offering from Troegs. I would buy a bottle of this if given the chance.

Special thanks to BOknows for bringing back this little delicacy from a trip home. Thanks, Brett!

A: Pours a cloudy light orange golden color. About a half finger of white head quickly dissipates to a quarter finger. Nice sticky clumps of lacing slide down the sides of the glass into the brew. Good looking IPA here.

S: Delicious bouquet of pineapple, grapefruit, and hints of pine. Maybe just a dash of earthiness. Very light and refreshing on the nose. This is one of the best smelling IPAs I've encountered.

T: A nice creamy pineapple is readily apparent before the bittering of piny hops takes hold. This is a very light drinking IPA. The citrus notes temper the bitterness very nicely.

M: Well balanced, with the aftertaste being perhaps just a little too bitter considering the wonderful pineapple notes apparent on the nose and initial taste. Carbonation is spot on. Well-crafted.

O: This is a really good IPA from Troegs. I really enjoyed the pineapple forward nature of this one, and thought that it got dominated just a touch by the bitterness on the back end. Otherwise it is light and refreshing and another great entry to the Troegs pale collection. Great work!

Tap at Armsby Abbey

Creamy head 1/2 finger fades slowly semi clear golden orange nectar colored.

Nose fresh hops, light musty resin, citrus and orange peel light tropical fruit, some light malts.

Taste nice hops but not heavy bitter, citrus, orange peel, lots of mint, light fruit, light musty resin, light sweet malts, dry finish, fairly bitter little sticky, lots of lingering citrus malts.

Mouth is med bodied, dec carb.

Overall nice but not great, nice hops, tons of mint, not too bitter. This got a better rating than 42, and I think it's cause most BAs have a pre-disposition and hard-on for all IPAs no matter how good they are, and less of a hankering for an interesting experimental dubbel with fruit that was much better IMO.

Bottled in the last month or so.

A: pours a nice apricot colored ale with less than a single finger of meringue like foam which falls to a central cap that falls to a broken sheet of the same. Spotty lacing. Small amounts of suspended yeast take from the originally excellent clarity (operator error).

S: Mangoes, pineapple, apple, apricot and biscuity malts make up the jest of this one. Not bad at all, quite pleasant without being particularly intriguing. I get the feeling this one uses Citra hops on finish (or at least it reminds me of the Citra dry hopped mild ale I recently made).

T: Sweet and bitter. Nice caramel and biscuit malts mend into resiny bitterness and a midpalate full of mango. I like the bitterness on this one - not overbearing, but present; dry but mouthwatering.

M: Medium bodied with fine and moderate carbonation. Semi dry finish makes me salivate.

O: Nice beer, one of the better offerings from Troegs IMO. Worth getting your hands on now, as it appears to be a one and done.

Bottle poured into a HOTD tulip.

A - Pours clear amber orange, with lots of carbonation bubbles rising all over the glass, a small one finger tall white head leaving streaky lacing down the glass.

S - Smells of caramel malt, grassy hops, chewy yeast, and some dulled citric rind. The sweetness is growing quickly in this one.

T - Starts off with a good bit of caramel sweetness that lingers through the finish. Once the initial sweetness dies down you get hints of the grassy hops, dulled citric fruit, and the chewy house yeast. The finish is a mix of caramel sweetness, grassy hop bitterness, and some more chewy yeast that combines to linger on the pallet for some time afterwards.

M - Medium body and flavor with moderate carbonation. Sweet, chewy, feel with plenty of it lingering through the finish.

O - I have now had this one in three different serving styles and it remains good but not great and the cask versions were the best by far. The caramel sweetness only seems to be growing at the moment. I will have to drink these last few bottles pretty quick.

12oz bottle poured into a pint glass. Hazy golden body with a solid finger of creamy, off-white head. Some really nice lacing on this, nice looking beer. Lots of citrus in the nose, mainly orange and grapefruit. Also some bready malts if i put my nose to work. Taste is very much hop forward, some sweeter citrus up front with a bitter floralish finish. Medium bodied with great carbonation, perfect for the style.

Very good Scratch IPA, I would have to check my reviews but I think I rated this higher than all the other attempts at the style.

I picked up a sixer at the release day when the cask was tapped, but wanted to wait to try this in bottled form alongside Perpetual IPA so I did a side by side with tenderbranson69 -poured chilled into a 1/2 pint allowed to raise in temperature gradually

the color is almost a straw golden with very light haze and tight bead with 2 fingers of cream capping the IPA, the lace is sticky and clings in a film. The smell is bready at first with some yeast aroma which launches into a citrus high alpha hop aroma with strong noes of grapefruit with slight tropical accents and mild orange rind with a subtle tinge of alcohol esters. The feel is good but does have an element of creaminess from the yeast with very bitter entry that lasts well past mid glass with some juicy accents and somewhat rind-like astringency with lasting bitter finish and moderate carbonation -overall a semi-dry feel which is pretty full on the palate.

The taste is good but feeling as though there is some kind of issue with the blend of hops because at times it is very citrus flavored and there are others where more rind and spicy hop notes come forward. I would not say it seems disjointed, just doesn't flow as well as it could with some grassy edges of leafy herbal hops one second and a bready sweet malt and yeast the next. I like the hop flavors which are vibrant and agressive but in this side by side it is clearer to me that the yeast is a little too forward and you get let hop resin and juicy flavors from the bottle. Overall I liked this -a very good IPA, I can't really say I thought it was World class, but it was a good stride from the last scratch IPA and they didn't skimp on hops at alll in this-a unique blend, but I prefered this on draft and cask second before the bottle

a: This was a slightly chill-hazed golden color. It poured with a smallish, lightly sticky head.

s: Lots of caramel with hints of sugar cookie. Plenty of prickly caramel that was a bit flowery.

t: Nice mix up front of tingly citrus and rough caramel. The finish adds lots of clove like, kind of flavorless bitterness.

m: Medium bodied and kind of slick.

o: Not my favorite scratch offering, I hope this isn't similar to the Perpetual IPA.