Drake's IPA

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

Pours a semi-hazy golden orange with a small head with average retention and the ;acing is spotty at best. The aroma consists of citrus notes, while lesser notes of pine, pineapple, and caramel malt undertones come into play. The taste starts with a strong caramel flavor, then big citrus hop notes come into play, hitting on orange, grapefruit and a touch of lemon. Moderate pine follows through near the finish, then fades with caramel malt sweetness and a touch of orange pith. The mouth feel is medium bodied with lively carbonation, slick, goes down smooth and finishes a touch on the dry side.

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

not a gusher, but a little overboard bubbly. smell and flavor are again malt dominated, even for an english style ipa. that said, it's a fairly well balanced beer, but it does nothing to justify being in the 98th percentile. fruity malt, with little in the way of bittering or floral hops...maybe a little past it's prime, but there is no date, so i'll never know.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

(7.0%, thanks Stoutlover72!). Hazy dark brown colour with huge foamy beige head which leaves much lace. A lot of preassure created a minor fountain, but I'm getting used to those, so not much was spilled .) Aroma is fruity hops along with some caramel and grassy hints. Flavour is very much the same with a sklight sticking sweet note from alcohol. Slight hints of milder honey also. This is quite close to how I like my IPA's.

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

A nice true Nor-cal beer. Very hoppy. One of the better IPAs. Has a solid bitter taste that isnt too lingering and overwelming. Worth a try but can be a little over priced.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Bottle (thanks Stoutlover!). Poured a clear orangish-brown color with a nice, white head. Nice lacing. Strong citrus aroma. Bitter hoppy flavor with a nice grapefruit finish. Very good IPA.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Thanks to Stoutlover for this one. The Drakes IPA was a great suprise. This beer poured a cloudy amber color with hints of orange. The head is white and has decent retention. The aroma is very piney, with plenty of citrus. I really like the flavor here. The aroma had me thinking hops all the way, then I got the shock of malt balance in the taste. This really did remind me of Great Divide Hercules, just not as malty. I really liked this brew, and will be happy to get my hands on more Drakes IPA in the future.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Pours a dark amber, a little on the brown side. The head is nicely formed and a bit soapy in appearance. The aroma is strongly hoppy. It smells a lot like Sweetwater IPA with it's balanced mixed of grapefruit and spruce. Similar in the flavor, although there is a caramel sweetness underneath the fresh hop flavors that paler Sweetwater IPA doesn't have. Excellent IPA. One of my favorites.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 10 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Incredibly well-balanced for an IPA. There are the obvious hops, but unlike a PNW IPA, this one is insanely well-balanced with the malt, so the final result is like a tease on the palate. You think it's gonna be big IPA hop and then you get hit with the malt and it's all good! Very good. Re-rate 3/13/2006 This is clearly a phenomenal beer that should be enjoyed by all. The nose on this is just simply perfect. I will continue to support Drakes as long as they continue to make my favorite IPA.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

I've had my eye on this particular beer for a while, since I remember enjoying the Drake's beers off-the-tap a few years ago up in the Bay Area. So when they started to bottle their beers -- and when the local Beverages & More stores started to carry their beers -- I was more than a little intrigued. Perhaps not intrigued enough to risk buying a full six-pack, but intrigued, nonetheless. That's why I was mighty surprised to get a bottle of this gifted to me from Mr. Long Distance Road Tripper a.k.a. Steve, who drove some 8+ hours from the Bay Area to join our little posse for the San Diego Strong Ale Fest this past weekend. A fine man, if ever there was one...!

Anyway, onto the beer itself. 12 oz bottle, with an interesting and very informative plastic shrinkwrap-style "label", than encases the entire bottle top-to-bottom. Never seen that before, but if nothing else, it makes removing the label (for future homebrew purposes) child's play.

Great appearence, with definitive reddish-highlights when held to the light. Reminds me of Bass, complete with the fluffy white head of foam -- and the corresponding thick Belgian Lacing along the inside of the glass as things progressed.

The aroma and the flavor profile is where this beer definately reveals it's British cant -- and never lets you forget that this is from a British-style brewery. Much less in the PacNW/West Coast vein, and very much in line with the New England/United Kingdom frame of mind. Quite dry and (again) Bass-like -- with the proportional increase of hops, of course.

But at no point in time did I feel that this beer fit in with it's West Coast brethren -- both a plus and a con, I think. It's refreshing to find something staying away from the "American C-Hops" (e.g. Cascade, Chinook, Centennial, Columbus), and nice to find what seems to me more along the lines of perhaps Challenger or good ol' East Kent Golding, but..., at the same time, this beer's resemblence to Bass can get a little distracting.

A fairly minor point, considering I still enjoyed drinking this beer, all-in-all. Probably a culture shock to some diehard West Coast Hopheads, but an interesting break from the norm. And probably awesome from a hand-pump or (even better) Cask Conditioned.

Cheers to Steve for the sample...!
//TB

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

Hand Pump. Blonde orange gold color. No head. Aroma is floral hops. A medium bodied IPA. Malts are nutty, slightly fruity and sweet. Hops are juicy and floral with touch of lingering grapefruit in the aftertaste, Touch of wood. Well balanced. Very smooth. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and very smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.