Samuel Adams Juniper IPA

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

Pours clear amber with a nice buff head. Aroma features hoppy and juniper notes, not much else. Flavor intensifies the hops, especially the woody aspect, and brings in a little malt and a snip of citrus. Mouthfeel presents average body but plenty of lively fizz. Jive for juniper.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Sampled on 3/14/2014. This India Pale Ale pours a medium orange gold color from a 12oz bottle. Medium to large sized white/beige foamy head with good lacing and nice retention. The aroma is piney and grapefruity, malty and sweet. A medium bodied India Pale Ale. The malts are caramel, fruity and sweet. The hops are grapefruity and citrusy. The juniper berries are more evident in the taste than the aroma. Decent carbonation. Nice mild long lasting bitterness. Some herbal notes as well. Very drinkable IPA. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and crisp. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

pours a pristine clarity of light coppery orange coloring shows a light and spacious rise of carbonation. The head is creamy, peanut shell toned, leaving a washy, spares, spongey dab lacing on the glass. The aroma is sweet syrupy malt upfront, hints of fresh cold blueberries, wet citrus and wintery pine. The juniper berries adds a bit of dry balance. Sweet, soothing and gentle. The taste has a flavor which was sweet fresh caramel, fleshy juniper berries that provide dry citric tones with a dry toasted character rounding things out. Dry gin like berries bitterness is evident on the finish. The mouth feel has a sharp feel around the tongues edges, light to medium body, slippery malt feel with a berry-citric ting on the tongue.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Not a bad IPA from a big brewer, more of an American pale IMO, but again, for Sam Adams, not bad. Easy to drink a couple of them, goes well with food, didn't really pick up the juniper that much.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

I'm giving this brew a little more love on the reviews. Flavor and overall barely an 8, but rounding up here since I feel it is one of Sammy's better IPAs. More of a West Coast feel....lower malt/higher hop. Balanced quite well, just a little on the thin side. Not in the 2nd tier, but better than average for the style and worth a try. Kind of weird though that they replaced the holiday porter with this in the Winter Classics Variety Pack.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

12oz bottle -

This could have been called Schnozzberry IPA, or DragonScales IPA because it tasted like a plain, uninspired IPA to me. Junipers in name only. A pretty weak offering.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Part of their Winter Favorites 12-pack for winter 2013. Pours a slightly deeper amber colour with a nice frothy warm cap, great retention and creamy lacing. Hop aromas with citrus grapefruit and hints of berries. The same for taste, all in the typical Sam Adams fashion of never being too, too strong, but yet just above average. Nicely balanced IPA with the juniper berries.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

Fresh off the bottling line I was hoping for a little more pop. Nice enough, but a pretty restrained ipa. Pine and light citrus, some Carmel malt backbone. Light on the palate with minimal bite.