RnD IPA #35
Russian River Brewing Company

Poured into that art easel pint glass I broke a little bit ago. Greg The Hammer Valentine bottle opener and microbrawler in the pic. Amazing clarity. Golden color. Big fat 2" white head of the smallest bubble size dimensions.

The aroma on this seemed to be mostly Chinook and Nectaron. Fuzzy stone fruited pine with an outer rind of grapefruit like nose.

Taste imparts a light neutral malt base and yeast. Notes of orange, nectarine, pine, grapefruit litter the hop landscape. Its clean and crisp, easy drinking. I'm not sure what all the bittering hops are for, not complaining, but at some point the numerical number creeping upward, you struggle to distinguish between some of the ones that are pretty similar (Comet and Chinook for instance). Mouthfeel crisp, clean, i like that. Definitely checks the boxes on a west coast ipa.

I doubt we'll see this one become part of the staple lineup, but its a plenty capable one off.

 

 

 

 

 

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a light to medium golden amber with a one finger white head with good retention and lacing. Aroma of pale malt, citrus and fruit hops, tangerine, light stone fruit, kiwi and a little dankness. Flavor is pale malt, citrus and fruit hops, grapefruit, fruit punch, orange and a little pine and dankness; solid citrus rind bitterness in the finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. It seems that every bottle of Russian River IPA brings me back to the first time I opened a bottle of Pliny many years ago to smell that burst of fresh hops. Each of the new ones has a different profile, but the herbal hop aroma is always a pleasure. This one has mostly citrus and classic New Zealand mixed fruit character, but also a little pine and catty dankness in there somewhere. Quite a varied hop bill, but it comes together nicely and has a fine level of hop bitterness in the finish. Nicely done.