Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Columbus Brewing - IPA



From Columbus Brewing:

"An American IPA
Our IPA pours a slightly hazy, pale orange with a balanced malt flavor and finishes with a wonderful flavor and aroma only American hops can provide. This beer is served unfiltered to retain all the bouquet from the hops. Brewed with Summit and Simcoe hops."

This beer has been on my "Must try" list for a while.  I have heard nothing but great things about it and something I see often on BeerAdvocate.  Other than that, I am also a fan of the hop varieties that are used in this beer and I have a pretty great feeling that I am going to be impressed even though my bar is set fairly high. So here we go,

It poured a really, really nice looking dark, rusty orange.  Two finger head that lasted for a decent amount of time but then just left a nice film over the top of the beer with a really neat looking soapy ring around the edge of the beer. I can't really see anything through the glass but I am not one to dislike hazy beers. I actually like a hazy IPA or Imperial IPA.  Not sure why but I do know that this beer looks incredible. I hope the aroma and taste are as amazing.

At the beginning I get a whiff of big grapefruit notes.  Like the aroma of a really bitter grapefruit.  But after that this beer just smells like juice from really sweet oranges and tangerines, a bit of pine mixed in there as well and then a tropical fruitiness to it as well.  I can never place the actual fruit for tropical fruit when I say that but mainly because it always reminds me a bouquet of fruit aroma and not one particular example.  I am not getting too much in the department of malt aroma but what I do get is a residual sweet aroma.  Something that is either coming from the combinations of all the hop aromas coming together or an underlying sweet, bready malt that is acting like a pillow for the hoppy aromas.  Definitely smells great. Really great.  I hope this lives up to what I was hoping to be.  The past few reviews I feel like I've been more of a Debby Downer.  Cheers,

Oh yeah that is nice.  Small bit of bitterness of the tip of the tongue then it bursts open with flavor.  Orange and tangerine juice just showered on small hints of pine.  I'm not getting much in the way of malt on the palate but I am perfectly okay with that.  The finish wipes away that sweet juicy like flavor that burst into your mouth mid-palate and finish with a quick sharp bitterness that soon fades into that citrusy grapefruit taste.  Perfect IPA throughout.  I love the flavors in the beer for sure.  Juiciness in the middle of the mouth and the bitterness before the citrusy grapefruit finish is fantastic.  This is exactly what I look like in an IPA.  Sometimes I want different flavor profiles but the craftsmanship of the beer is what I love.  Everything from the pour to finish have been perfect for me.

Some beers just have a real specialness to them and this is an example of, for me at least.  It has everything you could want in an IPA.  The color on it is beautiful, the aroma is wonderful and is especially inviting, and the taste is what brings all that together to really knock your socks off.  The grapefruit bitterness and taste that can sometimes overpower a beer was in check for this beer.  It hits hard up front but then relaxes itself through the rest of your mouth so the other flavors can come out and play and then, at the end, comes back in a big way to cleanse the palate for the next sip. If you don't have this. Get it.

Cheers ladies and gentlemen! 

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