India Pale Ale
Faultline Brewing Company

Draft at brewery. Medium golden, soft soapy head. Piney, citrus aroma, slightly tropical. Taste also brings out some melon and pineapple. A bit of a bitter finish, which lingers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On cask at the brewery.

A: Served a light lemon-amber with a faint suggestion of a white head. Very light in color for an IPA. Absolutely no lacing was left, and the foamy bubbles of the head quickly disappeared.
S: Light notes of grapefruit and caramel malt. Not particularly fragrant.
T: Follows the nose. Faint citrus sweetness, grapefruit, caramel and pale malt, with hints of pineapple and pine.
M: Super smooth with no stickiness or oil. However the body was extremely light and rather watery.
D: I'm no expert on real ale, but I feel this was a mediocre beer that didn't necessarily get any better served from a cask. Not a bad drink with dinner, but there are plenty of better IPA's out there.

My first, and possibly last, visit to the brewpub, this IPA posted as 6.8% ABV, showed a clear, light amber color with a quickly disipated white head that faded to a whimpy ring of white with little or no lacing. The aroma brings a nice grapefruit bread, clear and fresh, slightly floral. The taste brings a strong blend of dry citrus hop and grassy floral swamp bread. Hoppy but not hugely apetizing. Very little carbonation, but there is a fine spritz lurking. Not highly drinkable due to the sharp hop bite that does not provide a very balanced product. It does bring on a fair hop effect but it's not in my wheelhouse. There's some soapiness and a hint of bubblegum, not my favorite combination. OK, maybe worth a try but nothing I will revisit soon. I actually had a hard time finishing this one. I would agree that this is no classic American IPA, perhaps a bit more toward the English side, more toward the swamp side unfortunately. Disappointing for my first visit.

Poured into a pint glass straight from the tap @ Faultline....I ve been wanting to check out Faultline for years now, but after my beer drinking experience from yesterday, I was a little disappointed.

The IPA poured a very light yellow color with minimal head and lacing. I thought maybe the bartender poured me a pale ale at first, but after reading the description on the menu, it was indeed their IPA. A slightly sweet smell is all I got when I smelled it, and when I didn't get that citrusy, hoppy scent, I knew I was in trouble. At first taste, I swear to you it was a pale ale, but it wasn't. @ 6.8% I was expecting a more tasty beer, but I was definitely disappointed.

It was an easy beer to drink, but not my idea of what an IPA should taste like

Had on cask at Faultline on February 25th, 2008. Served probably a little warmer than it should have been, guessing around 70-75 degrees. Paired with one of their awesome burgers and fries while sitting in the bar.

A: Perhaps a bit lighter than one would expect for an IPA, bordering on looking like a pale ale. Thin head tops the beer but this is standard on cask. The lacing was almost non-apparent.

S: I was surprised by the lack of aroma off of this beer. I guess I expected more hop character to emanate but it just wasn't there. Faint caramel with slight citrus peel was all I could get.

T: Citrusy hops are faint and give way to a moderate bready backbone with hints of caramel. Definitely done in the british style, where subtlety is king. With that said, there still wasn't enough flavor for me overall in an IPA, british or not. The flavors that were there were all nice, just needed to be ramped up.

M: It just has to take a hit here. It's flat out watery, the body is just too thin. The only thing saving this from a 1 or a 1.5 was that it was smooth and creamy.

D: I do think it was served a little too warm. It was a little hard to quaff because of this. I'd prefer my cask beer to be served at 60-65 as opposed to 75. Otherwise, fairly easy to drink, and I'm sure this would have been better if it had been served a little cooler.

Average color with a nice foamy head. Smelled a little fruity for an IPA, but nothing off. It is well balanced. The taste does sourround the mouth. I felt certain tastes on all sensory portions of my tongue. However, it is a bit too malty and fruity for an IPA. The hops were there. However, it wasn't as clean as I am used to in an IPA. My overall impression is that it is somewhat drinkable without the IBUs commonly found and necessary in most IPAs.

Pours a cloudy golden amber colour. I think this is more of an english style IPA than an American IPA. A strong bitter taste, balanced by sweet malt, some fruitiness. A very well balanced IPA. Finishes dry and clean. Hides the alcohol pretty well. A pretty decent english IPA IMO.