Big Horn Big Red IPA
C.I. Shenanigan's Seafood & Chophouse

Appears an orange red color with about an inch of white head.

It smells slightly of grapefruit, slightly caramel like and slightly bitter.

It tastes at first mildly citrusy: like oranges but the citrus like flavor is hardly noticeable due to the significant but pleasant hop bitterness. The aftertaste displays a tad bit of a caramel malt flavor though the hop bitterness hides much of the caramel flavor.

The carbonation is moderate. I could drink a few of these easily.

Overall a good IPA though it lacks complexity. Bitterness is the only element of the beer that only shines. I for one like simple bitter beers though. If I had regular access to it I would drink it often.

Big glass served up at the local Ram property, (C.I. Shenanigan's), for $4.50. Somehow, I had timed my visit to just miss happy hour prices.

When I received the typical huge, pilsner-ish glass C.I.'s pours their beers into, it was a copper/amber color, with a moderate off-white head. Spotty lace.

Hops are in the nose, but with a good sized malty backbone. If I had a little more confidence in the servers, I would have asked what kind of hops they used, but this is a corporate site that primarily caters to guests to the next-door motel, so I've learned to lower my expectations here.

Like in the nose, and as one would expect with something sold as an IPA, the hops are the star of the show when it comes to flavor. This leans a little more toward bitter as opposed to citrus, unlike many IPAs go these days. There's also a fairly durable malty backbone that is slightly sweet, but stays subordinate to the hops. Very dry at the swallow.

Medium bodied, with a slick, hop-resiny mouthfeel.

A fairly drinkable IPA, though not terribly outstanding in the flavor department. Serviceable is what I'd call it, and at the Sunday & Wednesday growler prices ($5), downright reasonable compared to the by-the-glass price of $4.50. Suffice it to say, if I drink this again, it will be from a growler.

After shrimp nachos, Satay chicken, and a sampler platter of beer, I wanted a whole glass of beer. This was it. It arrived with a big. foamy, off-white/light-tan head with low retention. The nose had a good citrus-hoppy scent. The color was a lightly hazy medium-amber. The mouthfeel was medium with a pleasantly hoppy burst in the mouth. The finish had a slight malty sweetness to offset the hops. It was just right. Good lacing was created throughout the duration of the beer.

Served in large (20 oz I think) glass, the beer is bronze with a eggshell head & good lacing.

The nose is a nice blend of (I'm guessing) cascade and Chinook hops. Nice pine aroma.

The taste is pleasantly puckering, with a herbal and almost medicinal note to compliment the pine and malts. Seems well balanced and it has no apparent flaws.

The mouth is slightly oily with low carbonation. I like it. Best beer I've had here!

This one is on tap at a local restaurant. Poured in to a 22 oz glass.

Pours a dark amber color and is cloudy. A small foamy off-white head is served with the beer. The head is resilient, and laces the sides of the glass nicely.

The smell is faint, and typical of an IPA. Hops, and a faint evergreen aroma.

The taste is also typical of the style, a citrus grapefruit flavor dominates. Very little malt presence. There is a mildy bitter aftertaste.

The mouth feel is crisp and clean, especially at the very cold serving temperature of the brew, in a frosted glass.

This is a nice drinkable beer. It's not a great IPA, but a good one, and I would have it again.