There is something exciting about our first crack at a new microbrewery. Eel river brewing is from California and it is the first certified organic brewery. This hop-forward, dry hopped American IPA has just enough malt backbone to balance its bold but incredibly enjoyable citrusy, floral hop flavor and aroma. True to its west coast roots, this IPA is aggressively hopped using Magnum, Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, and Simcoe Hops.
Poured from a 750ml bottle, we see a coppery hue in the glass with a 10mm head that fades. The aroma with this one is more sweet malt, candy floss and a butterscotch/caramel that is dominant. We get some fruity hops here, some very mild grapefruit. First sip is definitely sweet malt. We can’t see aggressively hopped flavours but certainly get citrus, mild pineapple, some mild pine. There is mild carbonation in the mouth. The only issue we have is that as the brew warms, the sweet malts get a tad sickly..almost to the point of thinking it needs to be tipped out. There is obviously a malt backbone here but we unsure why so much sweet malt has been used when the alc vol is only 6.7%. We would understand if was well over 7%. Interesting to note is the 60IBU. The malt certainly balances the hops out. Look we like the fact this brew is certified organic, but we take umbrage with the overly sweetened malt that could have done with less. It’s not a rubbish, just a tad too sickly sweet as the beer inevitably warms up.