16 Year Anniversary Ale
No-Li Brewhouse

I got a growler fill of the 16th Anniversary Ale at the brew pub earlier this week. According to the beer keep it is an IPA but it is not dry hopped, so the hoppy bitterness is held in check.

Pours a pale gold color and in clear, with just a hint of chill haze. Smallish creamy white head is gone in a flash.

Smell is a fruity citrus aroma, like lemon and grapefruit.

The taste is quite good. There is a subtle biscuit flavor followed by a citrus flavor with mild bitterness.

Mouthfeel is light, crisp and clean.

A very drinkable IPA, if you don't mind it watering down the style a bit, so to speak. True hopheads might not like this beer, but I do. I reminds me of the Bridgeport IPA which I like a lot.

I'm guessing here, but I've got a hunch that Northern Lights brews an "Anniversary Ale" every year and that 2009's model, #16, is actually a lager. Everything about this beer, from the rich, grainy aroma and taste, to its pale yellow clarity with steady carbonation and white lather says "lager." The mash tun fragrance is delightful, and the flavor is dry and crisp as a $20 bill. The sustained bitter tail is perhaps exaggerated in that overzealous American way. But the beer satisfies heartily.