How does it look? How's the color? Clarity? Head?
- Dark amber, mostly clear, very little head
How's the nose (smell)? Sweet, spicy, fruity?
- Very subtle, it has a malty smell that overrides the hops, but the taste says otherwise.
How does it taste? Malty? Hoppy? Fruity? Chalky?
- While the sweet smell overrides the bitter (which is just odd), the expected bitterness of an IPA is very strong and consistent. There is just a little bit of the malty sweetness just as the flavor starts to fade.
Is it full-bodied? Medium bodied? Weak? Clean?
- Full-bodied, lengthy aftertaste
Where did you buy it? How much was it?
- Birmingham AL, $10 six pack bottles
What do you think overall? Would you buy it again?
- Very high quality IPA. The bitterness is intense even for good IPAs so if you are only ok or indifferent towards that variety, then this is probably going to disappoint. While it is full-bodied it is not very heavy. The only thing that stops me from rating it as 5 is that as it warms it gets a bit filmy (with what to me tastes very much like albumin), so this isn't a beer that can sit around for a while and still be good. This is not my first six pack, so that aspect of the beer seems consistent. But it is now side by side with Sweet Water IPA for my go-to IPA. And for people who cannot get the Sweet Water products, then this a very good alternative.
