Ithaca Cascazilla

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

At The Village Inn, Grand Island NY. A darker than expected pour for an IPA, but the aroma was right there. Colour was a rich amber, miniscule head, and a lot of hops for the nose. Solid bodied. Hoppy flavour, some resins as well. Dry finish.

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

Poured a relatively clear dark red (mahogany) color with a nice small head, modest retention and nice white lacing. The aroma was of cascade hops and some sweet malt. The taste is very nice- mellow caramel malts are livened by bright citrus hops. Exceptionally smooth tasting. Nice dry finish. The mouthfeel was very very pleasant- medium body with light fuzzy carbonation.

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

With a name like CascaZilla, I was expecting a hop bomb, but this beer is far from it. A cloudy reddish-gold pour with a decent sized off-white head. Nice lacing. Pine and grapefruit are the primary aromas, but the sweet caramel malt shines through. The beer is quite hoppy, but not overly so, one still gets a get dose of the malty sweetness in the flavour

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

Nice amber/copper body with a lasting off white head and thick lacing. Hoppy aroma with a fair amount of citrus and pine, not as big as I was anticipating. Caramel and bread malt flavors backed by a crisp hop profile. Solid but came off more of a pale ale, I was expecting more hops in the nose and flavor considering it claims to be "monstrously hopped".

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

Excellent beer. Pours a dark copper/amber with a generous head. Aroma is all hops and the taste doesn't disappoint either. Assertive hop bitterness but also plenty of caramel and malt to balance things out.

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

KSBF 08 - Amber/copper color. Bold and assertive on the nose and palate…just what an IPA is supposed to be. Tons of cascade hop flavor and caramel malts. Yummy grapefruit. It is what I thought it was!

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

Best By October; Sampled August 2008
A sharp pour produces a three finger-thick, light tan colored head that sits on top of a clear, deeply red stained, dark amber colored brew. When held up to the light the beer shows a brilliantly clear fully red, copper color. As I pour this really sticky, huge aromas of crystal malt waft from my glass. A closer inspection yields an ample hop character that helps to tame the crystal malt abuse; the hops contribute bright aromas of candied grapefruit peel, tangelo and some light lychee notes. The crystal malt character contributes toasty malt notes, sticky caramelized grain touches and a sort of toffee / brown sugar sort of Maillard-type note. The aroma is not nearly as bad as that first pure whiff of crystal malt suggested and is actually somewhat more balanced towards the hop character than that of malt.

Quite frothy and a bit over carbonated, the beer definitely foams a bit as it hits my tongue. Once this is vigorously swirled to a more manageable carbonation level I can notice that sweet, caramelized malt notes accentuate a sticky, citrus character reminiscent of tangelo zest and grapefruit. There are some notes of pine here as well, but these come in more towards the finish where there is also a substantial, but well tempered by the malt, hop bitterness. As the beer warms in my glass the crystal malt flavors become more pronounced; lots of caramelized malt sugars, sticky, with some astringent grain notes and an almost bitter malt character.

Not bad, but the focus on the crystal malt character can be a bit much at times. If I wasn't focusing on tasting this beer the over-use of crystal malt really wouldn't bother as much as it does.

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

I love hops and this one delivers. Great color and aroma, but the hop flavor stands out to me. Great Ithaca offering, comparable to any other out there.

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

Pours a clear amber with a large, thick off white head, leaving spotty lace. Aroma is pungent, full of grapefruit, sugary pine needles, grass clippings, and floral notes. Lighly sweet, light caramel and toffee, followed by a smack of grassy, fruity hops. Finishes with loads of grapefruit and pine needles, very dry finish. Well balanced for the style and very enjoyable.

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

04.16.05 Brewtopia ’05, draught. It’s a dark amber with sticky and tall head that made me think amber rather than IPA and I considered it as such off the bat. Sweet aromas and huge dose of pine. Tropical and a good malt punch (grainy sweetness) on nose, too. Flavor is way over hopped with no malt presence to balance the sharp and oily pine/orange rind/pineapple. Kind of thin bodied. I think it could use some work but it’s bold enough to be on its way to something very good.