Location: Draft at Blind Tiger, 3/15/2015

Aroma: Lighter aroma, some grapefruit/tropical hops, resiny notes, and a little onion
Appearance: It is clear gold in color, with a white head and some solid lace
Flavor: This one has a pretty good hop profile, leaning bitter, and just lightly sweet
Palate: It is light bodied and easy drinking, with a soft feel, and a clean, dry finish
Overall Impression: Pretty solid Session IPA, but not one of the better ones in the style. Drinkable beer overall though. You could certainly do worse than to take down a few of these in a session.

Draught @ Albion. Very pale yellow with small creamy white head, piney hops aroma, low carbonation, thin body, strong hops taste, abrupt finish with little hops aftertaste. A nice anniversary brew!

The closest to a 3.2 beer I have, as befits National Beer Day. 12 oz. bottle sent for review. Had this maybe 2 months, and the "Enjoy by" date is May18, but there’s still a nice nose of hops as I open the cap and hear the inviting "pssssht!". Pour is very light, like a "regular" Pale lager, except for a haze from visible particles of hops floating around. Aroma is strong on those ’catbox" hops I actually like; Amarillo, Simcoe, etc., or so I think. Taste is full of the same kind of hops I caught in the nose, intensely bitter and resiny. Yet fun for hop heads anywhere. Light malts, of course, and a bit gassy. Almost as if someone snuck into a megabrewery and dumped some actual flavor into the kettle. Then I find some notes of black peppercorn as I near the bottom of the glass. I might personally like more malt backbone, but that would take it out of the "sessionable" category. Dry finishes wraps up the bottle. Definitely something you could have several servings of in a night, and just might want to.

Bottle from Corti Brothers. Pours gold with a slight white head. Aroma seems towards dank and Mosaic. Near medium body. Flavor is somewhat dank with resin and hints of crazy fruits. It’s quite bitter and pretty hoppy. To be a standard all that’s required would be a stronger malt backbone. But then the ABV wouldn’t be sessionable. As it is, this is a great ale which should be great during summer activities.

Purchased at Bottles and Cans in Chicago, IL; enjoyed on a Thursday night at home after a whirlwind week. Appearance is a cider like bright gold with a thin white head. Aroma of resin hops and light hay. Taste has a light hop profile with a crisp finish, it’s good but nothing outstanding, definitely sessionable.

Tap at Ginger Man, Nyc. Clear golden color, small white head, some lace. Citrus and apricot in the nose. Light-bodied. Citrus, light fruityness, feels even watery for 5%. Simple.

Bottle. Pours pale clear golden, medium white head, dissipates fairly quickly leaving good lacing. Aroma is citrus, pine, dank pot. Flavor is very light sweet, pretty dry actually, light bitter, citrus, spruce, a bit of dankness. Light body, medium carbonation, some mineral feel to it. Pretty tasty and easy to drink.

Nineteen years as a brewery and this is what you produce. A boring session ale. Well, I guess after 19 years you settle into your ways and churn out boring beer. Light citrus, light bitter finish. Lager golden pour. Tap at Glens.

Pours clear blonde small white head. Smell is fruity hops, some malts. Taste is sharp bitter, citrussy, bit dry. Good carbo. Loe in abv yet this does not reflect on the taste. Lovely

I feel like making session IPAs is a dangerous affair. Sure the idea has been nice. Drinkers have preferred drier IPAs for a few years now, not those crystal-malt bombs of the early 2000’s, so why not dry it out some more? You get a sessionable beer and you can still have flavor with plenty of hops. But the danger comes when you dry it out too much and you’re left with a mouthful of resinous chewy hop juice that is not balanced by enough malt to give it any backbone. Does this beer enter that territory? Nope, but if there’s a line, they’re straddling it. Victory still knows how to build a hop profile and in the end that is probably what saves this beer. Fresh juicy citrusy hops, lemon-lime in character, lightly resinous and jut enough malt for body. Kiss of malted sweetness near the finish which is actually balanced, not bitter.