Valley Brew Cobra Hood IPA

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

From Healthy Spirits. My first Valley brew. The aroma is a little biscuity, with tea, pine and some citrus fruit. Dirty gold color, pours with a thick long-lasting head. Thick lacing sticks to the sides and coats the glass. The flavors are well-balanced but not massively hopped. Herbal and bready, light floral notes, caramel malt, resinous hops, light tropical fruit. Moderate bitterness for the style. Nice depth. Perhaps lacks some excitement but is very well put together and really easy drinking. I’m looking forward to trying the Uberhoppy.

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

Served only lightly chilled, this is amply carbonated as a steady pour produces an almost four-finger thick, pale tan colored head in my 25cl tulip glass. The beer is a burnished deep copper color with amber tints to it that shows an almost clear, rich copper hue when held up to the light; lots of carbonation is seen as well when held up to the light (too much actually). The head leaves a fair amount of lacing on the sides of my glass and forms some interesting structures as it slowly subsides. The aroma has a pungent, fruity hoppiness to it that definitely satisfies the cravings of my inner hophead. Notes of lychee, tangerine, bright citrus oil concentrate as well as a backdrop of softer herbal hemp oil, and a touch of pine needles are easily noticeable in this loud smelling IPA. If you really dig for it there is some malt noticeable towards the end; this is defined by a biscuit like maltiness, perhaps a touch of toffee, and some caramelized crystal malt notes.

The beer tastes a bit drier than the fruity hop aroma may lead one to believe, but there is still just enough malt sweetness here to accentuate a fruity hop flavor as well. The malt sweetness has a bit of a crystal malt edge to it towards the finish with a touch of sweet tea like notes, some caramelized biscuit notes and a touch of dry toasted grain in the final finish; this is definitely a hop dominated beer though as the malt only plays a supporting role here. A solid bitterness starts out light as the beer first hits my tongue, but it has a clean, biting character in it through the middle and the finish has an ample, lingering bitterness that couples with a light menthol hop note. There is a lot more herbal hop character than was in the aroma; notes of pine, a touch of grassy menthol, and a bit of hemp oil are all fairly noticeable. The fruity hop components still play a big role in the flavor though, as they contribute clean notes of lychee, kumquat skin and a nicely fruity citrus component. As the beer warms up the hop character becomes more spicy; almost peppery at times and it has an subtly woody component as well as a bit more menthol character.

My second pour of this that I immediately started drinking is a bit too carbonated, but some swirling of my glass gets this down to a more manageable level. This has just a hair too much crystal malt flavor for my taste in a West Coast IPA, but this is really almost a nit-pick as this is most certainly a hop lover’s beer. At the end of the day this is a very nice IPA and one I will happily drink fresh anytime; actually I wouldn’t be surprised if this beer has already lost a bit of its hop edge from its bottling date.

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

grapefruity hoppy aroma and flavor with a little bit of malt in there. not overpowering at all...a very nice ipa. well made and one of their better beers. 5/10-second time around...a little bigger. can't wait to try Uberhoppy.

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

Tasted on tap in brewpub. Light to medium gold color, slightly cloudy. Small sized white foamy head. Aroma is citrusy, fruity, caramel and sweet. This beer has a really juicy hops aroma. Medium bodied IPA. Malts are fruity and quite sweet. Hops are citrusy, grapefruity and juicy, touch piney as well. The big juicy hop flavors really dominate this beer. Nice balance. Good carbonation. Good hop flavors, without a lot of hop bitterness. Nice smooth, juicy IPA. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

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

Wow. A what a nice IPA. It’s too bad that others don’t brew quality beer like this. A nice hoppy aroma (not overbearing in anyway) with a malty backbone that smells as good as it looks. Once it hits the palate it just hoppy goodness from there.