Old Yale Brewing Co. Sergeant’s IPA English IPA at 5.5% ABV ($5.76 at South Trail Co-Op, 650ml, no bottle date or best before)
Pours hazy pale amber with three fingers of rocky white head, excellent retention and heavy, chunky lacing. (4/5) Nose is brett and not much else. (4/10) Taste is moderate sweet, moderate funk, mild bitter. (4/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, mild bitter and funky finish. (3/5)
Utterly dominated by a brett infection. Almost no hops left at all – none in the nose and limited amounts on the tongue. Not a bad drink even in the condition it’s in – almost has a saison character – but there’s no way it’s supposed to taste like this. And NO DAMN BOTTLE DATE, so no way to know whether this is just a function of it being on a shelf too long. Deeply disappointing, but I’m gonna have to do what I said I’d do: if you don’t date your bottle, I assume you meant it to taste this way. Rating this as an E/IPA, it’s a massive fail. (6/20)
4/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
