Rotator IPA Series - Hopside Down IPL

Bottle from GBBF 2013 and drunk at home. Clear gold lasting thin white head. It’s hoppy yes. A little empty in the malts. It’s fine. Hoppy yes, bitter. It’s ok but lacks a touch of character. More hoppy and bitter on the finish. Decent though.

12 fl oz bottle. Pours clear and golden yellow to orangewith a small white head. Aroma is toasted malty and light caramelish. Smooth roasted malty, toffee malty and light bitter. Dry and bitter finish.

12 oz bottle from a six pack bought at Super 1 in Rathdrum, ID. Bottled 7/1/13, so less than a month old. Pours clear golden with a medium white head with decent retention; leaves a little lace. Aroma is doughy, catty, wet river rock, faint lemon. Tastes like an IPA, even though it’s lagered. Bittersweet with a real hop-forward character. Crisp, clean and refreshing. Tasty stuff, but the only clue given that this is a lager is the filtered golden appearance. If I tasted it blind, there’s no way I’d be able to tell this was a lager. As an IPA, I would consider it ground-level basic yet good. Knowing that it’s a lager makes it more interesting.

Slightly hazy golden coloured body with a very thin, fast-dying white head that leaves a horribly ugly lace. Aroma of metallic hops, some light malt, a hint of earth and some cardboard. Medium-bodied; Assertive malts up front with strong earthy notes, a little caramel and a lot of english and german hop varieties up front. Aftertaste shows a good mixture with a pleasant earthy maltiness, some light caramel sweetness, and a great balance of bitter hops. Overall, a decent beer with some good hop flavours, but the balance doesn’t strike me as right for a lager, and the complexity simply isn’t there to make it sublime - but it is a good beer to sample during the summer. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from Harris Teeter in Arlington (Pentagon City), Virginia on 17-June-2013 for US$8.49/6pack, sampled at home in Washington on 15-July-2013.

Pour is a hazy gold with a small white head. Aroma is minimal. Some grainy malt and a slight hop. Flavor is a spicy hop to start then comes a bit of dull malts. Definitely a hoppy’er than usual lager but still kinda bland with nothing following up the spicy hop

12oz bottle picked up at The Grapevine
Clear golden with a medium sized white head and good lacing. Aroma and flavors of tropical fruit, floral, citrus and mild caramel
Nice and tasty

Mostly clear gold - effervescent, with a frothy, well-sustained, compact head - nose is clean, lightly sweet malts (honey, grain), light vanilla, grassy and floral hops - body is just slightly heavier and flavor is just bit sweeter than I was hoping (I was hoping for something light and sessionable when I bought it, not realizing the abv), but that can hardly be held against it, I guess - flavor is clean and medium sweet - strong but pleasant floral, grassy, and peppery hops - soft carbonation, creamy texture - it’s a decent beer, but the alcohol really starts to show and the sweetness becomes a bit much as it warms - if you made it about 5% and made it a bit lighter and more crisp, it would be much better

12 ounce bottle from Whole Foods Market Charlottesville. Pours a clear golden color with a large foamy tan head. Good head retention and lacing. Aroma of bitter herbal, resin hops. The taste is herbal, resin, lemon hops with crackery malts, Medium bodied, fairly crisp. Slight lingering bitterness. Decent.

Tap at Eastburn, PDX, 25/05/13. Clear light golden with a medium sized off white head. Nose is light floral hops, orange, citrus, summer fruits. A nice hop bite in the flavour profile, citrus, orange pith, light pine, juicy hops. Medium bodied, fine carbonation, refreshing finish. Good stuff - easy drinking and flavoursome although very hoppy for the style attributed to this beer!

Bottle from Malt and Vine. Pours dark gold with a creamy/foamy white head. Aroma is very earthy hop. Med body, almost. Flavor is very hoppy - sort of herby/earthy. Dry. Almost astringent. Very drinkable.