At a tasting, small stable creamy head, clear gold color, citrus and pine aroma with some maltiness, flavor of herbs, citrus and some orange marmalade in back, light to medium herbal bitterness. A little old but still quite nice.

Bottle. Hop Hideout, Sheffield. Orange gold, with a light haze. Film, and a few bubbles of white head. Restrained aroma, but pleasingly fruity, nonetheless. Some peach. Strawberry. Bit of blackcurrant, maybe. Drinks a nice balance of sweet, and gentle bitter. Soft, airy palate. Feels way below the ABV. Good stuff. Really drinkable.

Amber. The aroma is slightly stale c hop...mostly piney. Taste is lightly bitter, with a dash of caramelly malts and more piney hops, leading to an off-dry finish. A little old school I guess is how I’d describe it.

Poured from 355mL bottle [bb 12/24/2014]. Clear, orangey yellow with white head. Tropical hops, very subtle malt and caramel, light pine. Body is a bit light. Overall a little bit bland.

Pour is a hazy copper with a large white head. Aroma is a nice spicy hop with an equally nice caramel malt. Flavor is pretty much the same. Decent hop mouthfeel off the get go then comes a nice rich caramel malt. Not a hop bomb by a long stretch but this was a fine IPA.

12 ounce bottle into pint glass, best before 11/4/2014. Pours crystal clear deep gold color with a 2 finger dense and rocky off white head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Dense soapy lacing clings down the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the head. Aromas of grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, lemon zest, orange peel, floral, grass, pine, light caramel, biscuit, and floral/grassy earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of citrus hops and moderate pale malt sweetness; with solid strength. Taste of grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, lemon zest, orange peel, floral, grass, pine, light caramel, biscuit, and floral/grassy earthiness. Fair amount of pine/grassy bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, lemon/orange zest, light caramel, biscuit, and floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Very nice robustness and balance of citrus hops and bready pale malt flavors; with a good malt/bitterness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, crisp, and slightly sticky mouthfeel that is good. Alcohol is well hidden with minimal warming present after the finish. Overall this is a very good IPA. Good balance and robustness of citrus hops and bready pale malt flavors; and very smooth and crisp to drink. More of a balanced IPA that is not too bitter, but still has nice hoppiness in flavor. A nicely enjoyable offering.

From Mar 2007

This one pours from 12oz bottle(ice cold) a light gold with a small head of foam that shrinks quickly to a fine broken layer with some lacing.

The smell is very hoppy. I note mostly grass and pine.

The taste on first sip is also very hoppy. Lots of grass and pine that makes out for a very bitter start but that's followed by an abundant malt sweetness that balances out the hops very nicely.

Further sips in and as the ale warms, the hops start to lean more towards a citrus character and I'm getting a lot of lemon zest and some grapefruit; also, the malt seems to be fading a bit resulting in, once again, a pretty sharp hop bite....now I'm getting a taste of hop oils. Interesting and, I like it. Hmmmm...this kind of reminds me of the Ballantine XXX Ale of the 70's iirc and *that's* debatable. ;^)

Bottom line: I think this is a well made American IPA that deserves to be tried if you find it in your neck of the woods.