Foothills Brewing Cottonwood Endo India Pale Ale

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

I did not enjoy this beer. Nothing about this beer was on style. It pours out a murky brown colour.....darkest IPA I've ever seen. Aroma is quite nutty with citrusy hops...again, nutty malt in an IPA? The flavour is mellow for an IPA, not a lot of pronounced hops. I'll pass.

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

Sampled out of bottle a pretty cloudy orange colour with a fairly large white head. Aroma is instant hops, pine and lots of citrus on the nose. Flavour is comfortable. Astringent, hoppy (just how i like it) and chewy in the finish. Another awesome brew from Lou. Gracias Amigo!

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

Pours a slightly hazy amber with a large foamy white head leaving lots of lacing. Good carbonation. Aromas of sweet malts, pine and earthy hops. Taste is medium bitter up front from the hops then slight sweetness in the malts.

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

A decent IPA from North Carolina. I bought this while visiting my uncle in Raleigh. Since I am drinking it warm rather than cold this may affect my ratings and review. This has a strong hoppy and bitter taste, but a smooth "under" taste, and it slides down my pipes well. Not an exceptional beer, but worth knocking back with dinner or while watching a good ball or hockey game.

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

Hazy amber-red color. Woody, bitter orange aroma with earthy, brown sugar malts. Quite sweet on the palate, sticky crystal malts dominate the woody, earthy hops. Bump up the scores a bit if you dig lots of crystal in your IPA.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 2 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 4

Part of an $8.50 mixed sixer purchased at Whole Foods in Charlottesville. Code on lable: 332 A2 16:37. Endo is cyclist speak for flying ass-"endo"-ver the handlebars in a mountain bike crash. Brownest IPA I've ever seen, and the foamiest. There's an odd, yellow-green tint to to the foam. There's a faint smell of chlorine in the aroma. The taste reminds me of hop-pellet tea. The body is thick, rather than full. As ice water tastes different from water with ice in it, so Endo tastes like a thawed IPA. Clever name. Average beer. Pass.

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

True amber color and clear. Citrus and pine in the aroma. Flavor was mostly floral hops and pine underneath. The caramel malt background was satisfactory to support this IPA. Grapefruits nearly absent. Very nice lacing rings on the way down. Mouthfeel was moderate for the style and carbonated.

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 1 | Mouthfeel: 2 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 2

10.01.05 GABF Called simply Carolina Beer IPA at the fest. Deeply hazed orange gold with hardly any head. Aroma and flavor full of diacetyl, like buttered whole grain bread. Some cooked veggies. Just horrible. Background notes of something hoppy/citrus. Certainly won’t cause me to detour to Mooresville next time I’m in NC.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 6

Medium brown with orange highlights seems to glow. Flaky sediment doesn't seem to want to settle. The head is nice-sized and creamy. The aroma is a cross between grapefruit peel and pine but not harsh. There's a slight butteriness that gives the aroma a creamy feel. Under this is a slightly astringent odor. The flavor is nicely malty and the hops are crisply bitter but there's something there that I don't like. Luckily it's very faint.

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

~ Initial review (Draught), 02-05-2004:
Had this off-the-tap at the Marker 20 last week, while hanging out with Scott, Mark, and Ray. I had heard rumors from some of NC folks that this IPA had fallen by the wayside, and wasn’t quite what it used to be. Well, I’m glad to say that my fond memories of this from two years ago (Charlotte Int’l Airport) and 18 months ago (Asheville, NC) weren’t off-base. Rather, this West Coast-style IPA seemed to be very much alive and kicking, IMO.

Nice burnt-amber in appearance, with a lacey head of thick foam. Good lacing too. Nicely enticing aroma, that makes sure that the mighty hop is given all it’s just due.

Very nice mid- to back-end bitterness – you kinda have to wait a second or two after drinking for the hops to fully make their presence known. And when they do, you’d swear this is a beer more from the PacNW than the Southeast. And in my mind, that’s a good thing.

Quite drinkable and sturdy – easy to drink, but worth your time to slow down and savor (best of both worlds?).

Overall, this used to be – and remains – one of my favorite East Coast IPA’s. Along with Highland’s Kashmir IPA and Catawba Valley's Buffalo Nickel Ale, there are some very nice bitters coming out of NC, IMO. Recommended.

~ Re-review (Draught), 06-16-2004:
What's happened to this beer? Used to be quite lively and spritzy, in both the mouthfeel, hoppy flavor-profile, and overall tasty finish.... Had a pint of this at Coggin's Art Bar in Norfolk, and it was anything but lively tasting. Maybe the keg was old(er), but the beer itself didn't taste "old", per se. Rather, it seemed like that the beer was a bit watered down and duller than what I remember -- a fault that a beer-bar would have a hard time conjuring up (as if it would want to).

Scores adjusted to represent a mean-average between the two reviews.
//TB