Tap at MAH. Filtered dull amber-brown body. Creamy, steady beige head. Not capturing any modern IPA or IIPA tones, drinks like a big Scotch Ale meets an antequated IIPA. A touch brutal. Not desirable.
Earlier Rating: 9/7/2009 Total Score: 3.4
Draft at the Old Fashioned. Murky amber-brown color. Minimal off-white head. Solidly hopped, with a significant malt backbone as well. Sweet, pretty balanced overall. Drinkable but somehow takes anything extreme out of the style. Standard at best.

Tap at MAH. Amber-black brown body. Big, steady beige bead. Massive cocoa nib aroma and flavor. They really nailed it with this one, probably one of the best beers I’ve had here. Fresh, clean, massive chocolate tones but not sticky or heavy. Really well done. Great balance.

Tap at MAH. Filtered orange-tan body. Thin, respectable enough white head. The hops are pretty mild, the juniper is as well. Overall a pretty approachable, balanced beer. OK, probably wouldn’t get the juniper blind. OK.

Tap at MAH. Leaning a little more into the melon-citrus modern hop feel than previous MAH IPAs. Filtered orange-tan body. Steady, frothy, creamy, white head. A touch earthy, some delicate hop vine feels, not so far from a fresh hop IPA is feel. Pretty clean, maybe a far off hint of butter. OK.

16 ounce can into tulip glass, no can dating. Pours slightly hazy/cloudy golden orange color with a 2 finger dense and rocky off white head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice dense soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a light amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, lemon zest, orange peel, light pepper, pine, herbal tea, honey, light caramel, toasted bread, and floral/grassy earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of citrus/pine hops, jasmine tea, and moderate bready malt notes; with solid strength. Taste of big grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, lemon zest, orange peel, light pepper, pine, herbal tea, honey, light caramel, toasted bread, and floral/grassy earthiness. Moderate amount of piney/spicy bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, lemon/orange peel, light pepper, pine, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/pine hops, jasmine tea, and moderate bready malt flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance and zero hop astringency after the finish. Moderate amount of dryness from bitterness as well. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately sticky, and slightly creamy/bready mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a small warmth lingering after the finish. Overall this is a very nice tea spiced DIPA style. All around good robustness, complexity, and balance of citrus/pine hops, jasmine tea, and moderate bready malt flavors; and very smooth and easy to drink for the ABV. The tea added a lightly spicy/herbal character to the profile; and it blended well with the citrus/piney hop character and was not overdone. A very enjoyable offering.

12oz bottle. Filtered looking orange-copper body. Creamy, steady off-white head. Sort of an unappealing extract apricot aroma. Sort of thick and fruity, the yeast is sort of muted for the style. Screams bland US Saison, no farmhouse funk or zest. Relatively smooth oh the palate, drinkable, but not that appealing either.

Solid, a bit more bite than LeftHand