NOTES: Bottle @ McHops Monastery
STYLE: “India” Brown Ale
ABV: 6%
APPEARANCE: Mahogany, fairly clear
HEAD: Off-white, small, but steadfast
LACING: Streaky, but apparent
NOSE: Not sure why more breweries don’t combine these two styles. The dark chocolate, toasted malt, subtly sweet sessiony goodness of an English Brown Ale with the sharp, bitter, floral, citrusy pungency of an American IPA. Notes of grapefruit and pine mesh beautifully with molasses and toffee aromas. A complex and gorgeous nose.
TASTE: I expected the IPA bitterness to dominate up front and then shift to the sweetness of the roasted malt. Instead, both styles hit you immediately, stay together throughout the middle, and only separate at the finish with the IPA bitterness winning the race against the mellow maltiness of the Brown Ale. Really impressive beer…you can taste all the individual notes, but they harmonize beautifully and don’t create a muddle at all. Well done, Terrapin.
MOUTHFEEL: Medium to full bodied.
DRINKABILITY: Excellent. Combine two of the best styles for sessioning and you’ve got an uber-session brew. The only Terrapin beer that challenges the Hop Karma for drinkability is their award-winning flagship Rye.
RATING: 3.5 Hops. What can I say? I love them Terp brews.
[...] and mixing them together before bottling, we’re talking about an actual hybrid style. Think of Terrapin’s Hop Karma IPA or Dogfish Head’s India Brown Ale. In Terrapin’s case, they took the stylings of a West Coast [...]