Improper Hopper IPA
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery: Boston in Boston, Massachusetts, United States 🇺🇸
IPA Regular|
Score
6.72
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Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 3 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5
Very night hazey gold appearance. Very light head. Light grapefruit and pine needles. Lemon zest and pine sap. Decent but not a big scent. Yeah. Not very good hop profile. Mix of Amarillo and centennial. Very weak with a mild pineapple finish. 60% carbonation. Medium body
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Draught, 6.0% at the Boston brewpub. Grapefruity aroma. Cloudy dark orange colour. Small tan head. Good grapefruity flavour. Slightly high bitterness.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
A hazy amber IPA with a thin white head. A pungeant aroma of citrusy floral hops, pink grapefruit pulp, loads of sweet citrus. In mouth, a good pngeant IPA with fragrant citra hops, grapefruit juice, smooth yet challenging, quite a surprise considering the other "corporate"offerings. On tap at Rock Bottom Boston, July 1 2010.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Sampler from tap at the brewpub in Boston. Pours unclear orange with a lacing head. Floral hops aroma, mild grapefruit note. Flavour is grapefruity hops with sweet maltbase. Finish is fruity bitter. Ordinary ipa.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
3 cask pints at RB Boston on 2/8/07
Very generous, frothy/rocky white head spills over the glass and laces both the inside and out. Very good conditioning on cask leads to minimal haze and light carbonation. The body is just a step up from a San Diego pale IPA, having some bit of crystal or munich malt (some medium malt that lends a toastiness and slight copper-peach color). Strong retention as well.
First whiff is a cool gust of floral hops with light evergreen and wintergreen mixed in. Very fresh, crisp and snappy, with the snappiness accentuated by the toasted malts behind it. The malt adds a bit of sourish/sourdough character and while I don’t think it’s necessary for any amount to be in an IPA, it’s not overdone or overbearing. But back to the hops, it’s a pleasant mix of floral and mild citrus, with some candied orange and pale malt sweetness mixed in. No beat you over the head with grapefruit here. Medium-high strength as well and nicely conditioned to keep out any flaws.
Unique taste, which is a good thing for this rampant style. The first sip is wet (as it should be for a cask ale) but not watery, with peaches, mangoes, conifers and candied oranges all sharing balance throughout. Very well-attenuated pale malts add just a bit of sweetness, a pinch of sweet cream really, while light dextrines matched with the tight, but light carbonation give a borderline fluffy-creamy texture. It loosens on the end and allows more hop and pale malt sugar. Some fresh leafiness is noted, before the medium malt toastiness bears its fangs. Adding a slightly acidic, toasty/sour twang, it halts the brightness at the finish and shifts the flavor to a more peachy hoppiness with less crispness. Still, the body holds up and the medium malts arent too overbearing. And if you have any interest in them at all, you’ll certainly enjoy this and wonder what the hell I’m bitching about. Fruity, lightly sweet, very nice floral flavor/bitterness and well done on cask. Very drinkable, no alcohol noted nor other flaws.