Ipswich India Pale Ale

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

Not bad, not great. Nicely balanced caramel and biscuit malt, and citrus and piney hops. nothing really pops, but it's pleasant to drink. perhaps a well made starter ipa?

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

Very nice IPA - pours deep amber-orange with a thin white head. Decent lacing - citrus/hop & pine aroma that transferes to flavors as one would expect with a respectable IPA. Medium bodied and bitter with very little malt.

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

A beer of the month club entry for feb/mar 2011. Another rather nice and serviceable brew from the nice folks at Mercury Brewing. Nice grapefruit flavor in a hoppy punch, that is several steps ahead of the normal grocery store ipa's. Be sure to pick up a sixer if its in your area.

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

Pours with a lightly hazy, dark amber color. It is topped by a frothy, almost two-finger thick, tan colored head that leaves a touch of lacing on the sides of the glass. The beer smells of ample crystal malt notes and citrusy hops from afar. This is definitely heavy on caramelized malts from the ample use of crystal malts, but there is a judicious hop character here which helps to balance this out. I would characterize this as a somewhat hop focused, malty, amber ale more than an IPA. The hops are noticeable, though they certainly don't jump out of the glass and even at times completely disappear underneath the crystal malt aromatics.

The flavor is a bit more hop focused than the aroma, with an aggressive, even at times astringent bitterness being most noted. In addition to the sharp bitterness the finish also has a note reminiscent of heavily toasted malts; flavors of well browned rustic bread, and even almost a touch of chocolate character (though this last might be a bit of a stretch). Citrus hop flavors of grapefruit, and tangerine mix with a sharp, herbaceous, pine note.

A bit too sharp and astringent, the hops come off as being a touch to harsh, which is a bit of a surprise given the heavy handed use of character malts. Somehow this just comes off as being muddled or even a bit muddy somehow. Not bad and certainly drinkable, somehow this seems a bit outdated (sort of like an early 90's brewpub interpretation of an IPA). I think my expectations of this beer were built up a little bit too much.

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

Woah, very drinkable IPA. Pours a dark amber with a cream colored head with great retention. Aroma is sweet grain, caramel, floral and citric hops. Flavor starts with some great sweet caramel malts, followed by a well balanced bitterness and a rush of piney, citric, and a bit spicy hops. This is a very well balanced IPA, sort of a session IPA. Very good stuff, might become a regular for me.

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

Bottle. Deep orange in color with a tan head. Piney hop aroma. Citrusy. Sharp hoppy flavor. Malt is smooth and subtle. Finish is hoppy. Ok beer.

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

After I had the stout by Ipswich I thought I would be in for another shitty offering the the beer dieties ( if I spelled that right. I was pleasantly supprised. I had a fantastic head that stuck with me throughout the entire pint. Great color , a little darker than other IPAs. Nice bitterness, just hoppy enough. I will contnue to try these beers.