RnD IPA #54
Russian River Brewing Company

 

Look: Hazy pale yellow with a low-medium white head that has decent retention.
Smell: Good. Fruit and hops.
Taste: I’m getting a lot of sweet papaya/mango upfront. Some orange and just a faint touch of lime. Very little bitterness.
Feel: Ok. Low in the mouth but a bit on the thinner side.
Overall: This is an alright beer, just nothing special. Goes down very easily but is sweeter than what I usually prefer. In my view, Russian River needs to stick with the old school West Coast IPAs.

 

 

Bottle pour - murky milky yellow juice, thick white head, lots of lacing and foamy bubbles. Nose is mildly citrusy. Taste follows with hints of sweet malt, dank and mild bitterness that lingers on the finish.

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a very hazy, medium orange yellow with a three finger white head with good retention and solid lacing. Aroma of pale malt, citrus and dank hops, orange, catty dankness and a hint of mixed fruit. Flavor is pale malt, citrus and dank hops and black tea. Light to moderate bitterness in the finish. Medium bodied with moderate creaminess and nice mouth feel. Even though I'm not a fan of hazy IPAs, I keep trying ones that are flagships or from breweries that never let me down, like Russian River. Although this has the herbal hop aroma and flavors I expect from RR, it has the soft, low bitterness of the New England style, alas. I'm a bit puzzled by this because Brewer's Gold is a bittering hop and Citra seems to satisfy my bitterness needs. Fortunately the fresh hop character is appealing and Citra holds its own as a flavor hop. Interestingly, this has the nicest mouth feel of any RR beer I've had, with a pleasant creaminess. So not my style in lack of bitterness, but enjoyable enough for hop flavor and body. I like the RnD series and look forward to other varieties. This is my first experience with Brewer's Gold, although I'm guessing it is an unheralded component of other hop bills.