Saint Arnold Elissa IPA

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

Got a 6-pack on clearance for $1/beer @ ABC Liquors. Was a little past best by date. After this I made the decision to drink IPAs on the fresher side. Ratings may be slightly lower, but based on this sample there could be some loss of quality. Has a cloudy, medium pale orange appearance. Leans towards the sweeter side for the style. Seems average at best, but would like to try one fresh or on tap to be sure.

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

12 oz bottle. Pours clear light golden amber with a big pillowy off white head that retains well and laces the glass some.

The aroma is bready, biscuit malts and fruity, grassy hops (cascade?).

The flavor is milder than expected - some sweet bready, biscuit malts with a little fruit and a decent grassy, slightly metallic bitterness in the finish. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with smooth carbonation.

Overall, an OK IPA - too much biscuit malt and not enough hop flavor.

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

Golden yellow with very bubly white foam head, sticking to glass. Pretty bitter taste with some slightly sweetness. Good bitter aftertast. (Houston 201205)

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

IPA from Suds McDuff - Clear copper pour with a slight white head and very light lacing. Light apricot and pine hops aroma offset nicely by a hefty dose of sweet caramel malts. Taste is a very good balance of malty sweet and apricot-pine hops; more like a big ESB than a West Coast IPA. Very traditional and very tasty. Not overly bitter like some of the popular IPAs. I could drink these all of the time. Merci beaucoup to Mr. McDuff.

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

Bottle: Poured a clear orangey color ale with a medium foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of bitter and citrus hops is pleasant but also somewhat reminiscent of a bunch of other IPA I have had before. Taste is very refreshing with nice notes of citrus and bitter hops and a medium malt base. Good carbonation with average body. Well done with no discernable flaws but nothing extraordinary either.

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

This beer poured a dark orange color. The aroma contains pines, oranges, and apricot. The flavor consists of some lemons and orange. This one doesnt bend itself too bitter, a well balanced beer. The finish is slighty bitter however. Overall a good IPA.

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

I was a little leary about trying it but i have to say this was a fairly decent IPA. It poured a dark amber with a little head, fair lacing, with citrus tones. Hops were well balanced not to overwhelming. The aftertaste was slightly bitter. It is worth a try.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 8

One of the best IPA's you can get your hands on (if you come to Texas). This is super hoppy as you would expect in an IPA. Very citrusy and floral taste. Huge head and beautiful light copper color to pour. Love it.

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

Mmmmm...yummy. Beer pours a reddish brown. Strong aroma of grapefruit. Lovely balance of caramel malts and cascade grapefruit hops. Nice smooth mouthfeel and well balanced bitterness and sweetness. Simple, but delicious.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

~From wikipedia.org:
~~ "The tall ship Elissa is a sailing ship originally launched on
~~ October 27, 1877. This iron-hulled, three-masted barque,
~~ currently moored in Galveston, Texas, is one of the oldest
~~ ships still sailing."

Pretty cool stuff -- especially considering that I first had this in Galveston TX, and yet didn't even know that the beer's namesake was moored just down the way!

(I'll take a wild guess and say that the tall ship in the background of the label is the ship in question).

And though I think it's a bit a stretch for this IPA to named after a ship that may (or most likely not) have travelled to India, it is still cool for Saint Arnold to name it's beer after a local historical icon -- Colonial India provenance, or not.

All that having been said, what's this beer like? Tasty, I say. Though it's not a tongue-raper like some examples of the style, it definately is a bit beyond the standard American Pale Ale threshold. Rather, this is a pretty tasty *standard* American IPA, I'd say.

A little dull to look at, but the nose and the flavor profile? Nice. Not balls-to-the-wall-hops, but enough gumption to matter. Appealing Cascade citrus notes in the hop profile. And I always dig a well-made Marris-Otter beer, malt-wise. Quite firm in the mouthfeel. Not overally complex, but appelaing enough to make quaffing this down a rather enjoyable expierence.

Texas doesn't seem to have a strong hop-head following, from what I gather. But the few hoppy craft beers that do seem to be made, are made quite well. This is certianly no slouch, in both the hop quotient, and the overall "likeability". I dig it.

Music: Desultory's "Into Eternity"
//TB