Stab your palate with this strong IPA
Written: Nov 01 '08 (Updated Apr 08 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Strong, sweet, citrusy, bitter taste; smooth finish
Cons: taste is a tad bit dry; heavy body
The Bottom Line: It's beers like Impaled Ale that give quirky microbrews a good name.
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| Chad9976's Full Review: Impaled Ale |
With each beer review I write I become a slightly wiser connoisseur. I’m finally beginning to notice the nuances of certain ingredients. With Middle Ages Impaled Ale, I’m realizing I like cascade hops and Ringwood yeast in my India Pale Ales.
POUR, COLOR AND AROMA
If nothing else, Impaled Ale warrants a recommendation from me based on its pour alone. Some beers require a certain finesse to get a proportional head, but this beer formed an absolutely perfect head without any effort whatsoever. It was one of the smoothest pours I’ve ever seen for an IPA.
The beer forms a fantastic head, which is thick, foamy, and off-white. It didn’t dissipate completely and it left significant lacing on the glass throughout the drink. The color was a pretty shade of bright orange, and its complexion was surprisingly cloudy and fairly carbonated.
The aroma was a strongly floral – a good indicator of a hoppy beer. It had a very sweet scent, reminiscent of the more syrup-like IPAs, which made me a bit anxious. But I’ll take a beer that’s a little too sweet-smelling to one that smells like regular beer any day.
TASTE
I like my IPAs to be sweet, tart and bitter without a sugary or salty taste and Impaled Ale definitely met my criteria. This is a very bitter beer with a strong hop bite and an overall citrusy palate that finishes tart but not too tart.
The beer is extremely tasty without being gimmicky. The only caveat might be that its taste is just a tad bit dry, but just barely. I actually hate to even point this out, but it’s the only thing keeping me from giving Impaled Ale a perfect 5-star rating.
FINISH
One of the things I like about IPAs across the board is even the least-best IPA still goes down fairly smooth. Impaled Ale finishes quite clean, which is even more commendable considering the strong hop bite. Anyone that likes a tasty beer, whether lightweight or connoisseur, will have no problem drinking this brew.
BODY
The word “impaled” is not too far removed from “imperial” so it came as no surprise to me that this beer is a quite strong and heavy in body. Weighing in at 6.5% ABV the two bottles I drank after dinner hit me with a surprisingly strong buzz, although they didn’t fill me up.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I will always appreciate a finely-crafted India Pale Ale so Middle Ages Impaled Ale gets special marks in my book (especially due to the fact they’re local). It’s always so nice to drink a tasty IPA that doesn’t apologize for being so strong all around.
OTHER INDIA PALE ALES:
Brooklyn East India Pale Ale (4)
Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA (3)
Harpoon India Pale Ale (3)
JW Dundee's India Pale Ale (5)
Magic Hat Lucky Kat (5)
Saranac India Pale Ale (4)
Sea Dog Old East India Pale Ale (3)
Smuttynose India Pale Ale (4)
NOTE: watch the video version of this review at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMIewDkYja4
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Chad9976
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: Chad Polenz
Location: Albany, New York
Reviews written: 663
Trusted by: 147 members
About Me:Check out Chad'z Beer Reviews on YouTube
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