Shipyard Pugsley’s XXXX IPA
Posted in Reviews on October 7th, 2011 by suregork
Today I decided to have another beer from my latest Cracked Kettle order, so it was time to try Shipyard’s (Pugsley’s Signature Series) XXXX IPA. This beer is a “non-traditional American IPA” demonstrating “a unique balance of malt-inspired, delicate red grapefruit sweetness and lingering hop dryness”. The beer has been brewed with Malted Wheat, Pale Ale, Crystal, and Caramalt malts., and has been hopped with Cascade, Warrior, Summit and Glacier hops to an IBU of 70. The original gravity of the beer was 1.092, resulting in a final gravity of around 1.021. Let’s see how it does!
| Shipyard Pugsley's XXXX IPA | |
|---|---|
| Appearance |    |
| The beer pours an amber-orange color and is slightly hazy. A very slight off-white-colored head was formed during pour, leaving slight lacing along the glass. There are some floaters in the beer, withdrawing some points from the appearance. | |
| Smell | |
| The aroma begins with some piney and grapefruity hop tones, but is quickly joined with a caramelly biscuitiness and some dark fruity tones. | |
| Taste | |
| The flavour begins with a caramelly maltiness, that is joined by a subtle fruitiness, some resin, and a spicy bite. The flavour finishes quite dry and with a sharp bitterness. The alcohol is well hidden, but becomes slightly more present as the beer warms up. The maltiness and bitterness balance well, and it is clear that this (I)IPA is more traditional (i.e. less focus on the hops) than others on the market. This is probably great for fans of a more traditional style IPA, but for a hop-head like me I would have wished a bit more hop flavour (don't get me wrong, there is a lot of hop flavour in this). | |
| Mouthfeel | |
| The beer has a medium body, and a moderately low carbonation level, making it quite pleasant to drink. The beer has a slightly oily texture as well. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Overall a very good and drinkable beer, that I would drink again if I had the chance. I am more of a fan of beers focusing on the hop flavours, but this one was surprisingly tasty as well. Not sure if it was worth the high price I paid for it, but it was nice to drink an (I)IPA that didn't focus solely on the hops. | |