Jockamo IPA

Tasted following a bike ride into Moline to check out a new Mexican restaurant El Mariachi. I finally finished and bottled Vlads mead which aged for 5 month and was made of all organic honey.

Appearance: Deep amber copper color with a bright clarity and a foam white head. Quick to dissipate but leaving behind a sticky foam lacing on the side of the glass.

Aroma: Bready with a biscuit undertone and a mild malt based sweetness. To complement is a earthy peat like smell. Caramel permeates as another dominant scent.

Taste: Sweet foretaste mostly of caramel and dark bread. The mid taste is buttery but transfers into a spicy herbal flavor with some aspects of smokiness and subtle citrus which don't match up too well together. The beer finishes uneasily bitter with a grassy crispness at the end. Mild pine and grapefruit present, but that is simply from alternate hop resins, that are more masked by earthy, herbal, and grassy alpha acids. Some spices are incorporated, but I cannot tell which.
Mouthfeel: Nice light body with a very fine carbonation, but enough to bite the tongue and encourage a crisp refreshing finish. Some hot-ness at the finish along with a bitter dry resin.
Overall Impression: A very different IPA, it has somewhat of a strange smoked/peat/bacon flavor to it that may be traced to smoked malt. There is some discrepancy in flavor, but it still has some interesting elements to it.