I’m getting ready for a business trip out to Seattle, and I’ve been trying to have a few of the beers my cousin sent me a few weeks ago from Seattle. I’m hoping that it’ll help me determine a few breweries I must stop at while I’m there. In doing a little prep work for my trip, it looks like this brewery has a great “urban beer garden,” so I’m hoping this beer will be the motivation I need to stop there.

Location: Poured into a snifter glass from the 22oz bottle at my home in Bloomington, IL.

Numbers: 6.2% ABV, 180 Calories

Ingredients: Malt: 2-Row, Munich & Honey malts; Hops: Chinook, Centennial & Amarillo hops.

Appearance & Aroma: It’s orange in color, slightly hazy, with plenty of carbonation in it. There’s a creamy, pillowy, one finger white head and an earthy-piney hop aroma.

Taste & Feel: It had a lighter body than I was expecting for an IPA, with a fairly creamy mouthfeel from the head, but it had a bit of a carbonation and hop bitterness bite after the creaminess. Up front, there was a mostly bready malt flavor, but that was quickly followed with a citrusy-piney hop bitterness. It finished with a fairly citrusy hop bitterness and some lemon-like flavors. The citrusy hop flavor lasted for a little bit in the aftertaste.

Food Pairing: This was pretty much a citrusy-piney, hop-forward IPA that would need a hearty meal to match its flavors. Therefore, I’d probably pair it with a thick, juicy burger, or a steak. The breadiness in the beer would go nicely with the beef, and it might help to cut down on the bitterness a bit.

Overall Impression: As an IPA it definitely leaned toward the hoppy side, with only a quick hit of maltiness before the hop flavors quickly took over. The hop flavors were mostly citrusy with some pineyness. I thought the lemon-citrusy flavors in the finish were interesting, but I enjoyed the aftertaste. Overall, it wasn’t a bad IPA, but I think it could have been a bit more balanced, with more maltiness and body.

My Rating:

Reader Ratings[five-star-rating]