Saranac Our Forbidden IPA
Matt Brewing Company / Saranac Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bottle > Mason Pint

A - Clear yellow straw color with a finger of fizzy white head, medium spotty lacing.
S - The aroma is bad on this one, smells like skunky cabbage, and other decaying vegetables, vienna malt, a little pepper, some other spices probly in there, its really weird, and mildly offensive to my nostrils.
T - This tastes rather skunky too, maybe I got a bad bottle? There's a very light malt base, some hints of pine kinda hop flavor wanting to poke through, but its buried by this weird flavor.
M - Watery and rather thin, unmemorable.
O - I could see why they call it forbidden. I'd be embarrassed to brew it. Legacy is a decent IPA, this is what I assume their take on a session IPA is, but its a brew gone horridly wrong. Granted I might have a bad bottle, but I'm guessing that this thing fresh isnt much different.
I really keep hoping for Saranac to surprise me each time I try a new brew of theirs, and it just doesnt happen.

 

Saranac "Our Forbidden IPA"
12 oz. brown bottle, code "BB JUN 30, 1014 3473 1457"

An aggressive beer, and an interesting one, from Saranac/F.X. Matt. "Our FORBIDDEN ALE"... why is that? Is this the beer the employees are not allowed to drink after work? Or maybe they can't take it as part of their monthly "beer allowance"? Or is it just a good name for a beer, because I think it is? What I find more interesting, however, is the line that reads "ALE BREWED WITH NATURAL FLAVORS" - I wonder what they might be?

Anyway, it looks good in the glass. It's got a "fingerprint clear" deep-gold body that appears copper-ish in a full pint, and a frothy white head that holds pretty well and leaves very nice lace behind. Once the head drops it maintains a very solid whispy surface covering. Nice.

The aroma is what you'd expect of an American IPA: citrusy, fruity, and softly piney over gently sweetish doughy/bready malt.

I'm not finding any "natural flavors" here, so I'm assuming whatever they're using is in a limited dose. I'd imagine it's a fruity or pine-like flavoring (I'm guessing orange), but it doesn't stand out from anything I'd be expecting anyway, so who cares? Not me. It starts with a dollop of sweetish bready malt that's got a drip of golden caramel to it, followed immediately by piney, citrusy, and spicy hops. The 50 IBU's are quite apparent across the middle, and to be honest, it seems even more bitter than that. (I actually feel like the alcohol might be stronger as well... just 5.2% abv?). Not surprisingly, it finishes dry with lingering piney, spicy, and citrusy hops. It's woody as well, almost as if it had been oaked; and a nice bit of tangerine rises late. Pretty nice! It could be a bit more balanced for drinkability, but as a citrusy American IPA I'm pretty sure the market wants it this way - hoppy, bitter, raspy, and just supported by a fairly basic malt base.

I've been pretty impressed with the Saranac line-up for a while, but I think their most recent beers have been their best; not necessarily in choice of style and recipe formulation, but also in quality. Really nicely done beer. Worth trying.

 

 

Another bottle from Jacob. Thanks!

It looks a bit lighter than the Pale Ale but what I said aboot the foam and lacing applies to this beer as well.

Kind of a citrusy hop nose that leans more towards a lemon vs grapefruit nose. No, more than kind of. It's all I'm getting after many whiffs. Naught wrong with that imho.

The taste follows to a T what I just said aboot the smell. Lemon but also a very blood orange like flavour; I know if that's what they intended, they would have said that on the label but being a fan of the Moro, I stand by my assertion. Not much of a malt presence that I can taste but the hops are doing well enough for my liking.

Similar mouthfeel to the Pale..light side of medium bodied, lively carbonation.

Another brew that I consider a solid entry from Matt Brewing.

12oz bottle poured into a snifter. Best by June 30, 2014

A: Pours a clear amber golden with an average white head on top. Just a bit of visible carbonation in the body. Head dissipates in a couple minutes leaving behind a few spots of lacing.

S: Bittering aroma up front on this one. Don't get as much citrus as is advertised on the label but still a bit is present. Slight malting brings up the rear but the focus is certainly on the hops.

T: Mild easy going IPA that is pretty standard affair. Hops are the focus of course but they do not bring as much to the table as others in the style do. Just a hint of sweet malts rounds out the beer.

M: Medium body with ample carbonation. Certainly an easy drinking beer. Crisp and dry finish.

Overall seems like your run of the mill IPA. Won't blow you away with an intense hop profile but will help satisfy a hop craving.

 

 

12oz longneck bottle
A) Pours with a finger thick head. Settles, leaving a tight lacing at the edge of the glass. Clear, bronze colored body.
S) Subtle citrus aroma, quite mellow.
T) Bitter from the beginning. Hints of caramel. Slightly nutty. Lingering mellow hop bite in the aftertaste.
M) Medium-light body. Dry. A touch chalky in the finish.
O) An okay IPA. You average run-of-the-mill IPA, but a little on the light side.

Serving Type - Bottle

Appearance - Golden tan/brown, very clear with a 1/2 foamy head. Nice lacing.

Smell - Faint, skunky, dank hops. A little sugar note, but really that's about all.

Taste - Starts off with a very artificial hop flavor, tasting somewhat like orange, lemon and toast. Some fruit additives like orange peel and coriander remind me that beer is appealing to the blue moon fans that don't have the refined palate for a real ipa. Very bland and boring with a rather sour aftertaste.

Mouthfeel - Cheap, bland fake hops coat and ruin the tongue. Palate gets more of the same mess. Aftertaste is dry, sour and bland.

Overall - It got worse with each drink, very bland, artificial tasting, and not a pleasure to drink. So many better beers out there. It wasn't balanced or smooth, just a waste of my time.

Copper body bright slightly off white head billowing above the rim of the glass, this IPA is picture perfect...fine speckled lacing. Aroma has bitter citrus notes, hop pellets, hints of pine notes but really focuses on the citrus aspect of the hop spectrum. Some perceived sweetness from the fruit characteristics of the hop additions with minimal biscuit malt notes. Flavor has a sweeping bitterness for only 50 IBUs it's an onslaught of off balanced hop pellet additions and grapefruit pith/crushed aspirin acidity. The mouthfeel pretty much fills the whole palate with citrus peel, it's like snorting Grapefruit peel puree, ridiculous unbalanced levels of bitterness on the palate, make this one of the most frustrating IPAs I've ever had. West Coast IPA is great for the hop flavor, high bitterness, and malt presence the combination of the three not the pure raw chewing on hop pellet alpha acid aspect of the beautiful IPAs out there.