Belvidere Big IPA

Tasted Friday afternoon at Great River at the end of the bar. Joe Weitlesbach brought in a bottle from his trip to Vermont. Thanks to Caley for letting me use his computer to review this.

Appearance: Turbid amber with minimal head retention, aside for the white foam ring around the perimeter of the glass. Wet lacing along the sides. Some carbonation apparent, alongside some flocculents, probably yeast and hop matter.
Aroma: Honey and biscuit malt backbone. Fruity and full of pear, grapefruit and floral undertones. A bit earthy, but dominated by the malt profile.
Taste: A lot of underattenuation. Very worty, yet prominently resenting a lot of caramel. Piney and grapefruity as the hops begin to be introduced by the mid taste.  Alcohol is apparent in the finish, as it warms down the throat, but, the hops do a pretty good job masking it. Still in the aftertaste, that worty malt sweetness maintains it's profile. Paul said it taste a bit oxidized, but I have yet to really master pcking out that taste.
Mouthfeel: A very distinguishable carbonated bite on the tip of the tongue. Yet the body is relatively full with a thicker mouthfeel. Big dryness at the end, also pretty resinous.
Overall Impression: Decent, but I was un-impressed. Relatively balanced, though the under-attenuated malt was a bit of a deterrent. I found the hop profile to be a but sub-par, though still boasting a bunch of pine, and booziness.


74/100