The beer is a dusty and deep amber. The very fluffy white head leaves an impressive amount of lacing on the sides of the glass while it emits a fairly light floral/pine hop aroma sitting underneath a more powerful malt that kind of asserts itself more than I would expect from an IPA. The hops need to step up a bit.First sip is a lot more bitter than I would expect a beer with that heavy of a malt aroma to have. The malt is still there, but the pine hops are dusty and bitter with a twang that's hard to describe - it's like it's falling forward as the beer rolls down the back of the mouth.
Tip-in are hops that seem a bit pine and citrus. As the middle rolls on down, the middle gets more cloudy and has a bitter haze blotting out most of the flavors swirling under the mist, but the impression I get is more pine hops. The finish brings a slight intensifying of the bitter, and then everything eases off a bit as a different, more dusty haze trails off.
Bottom Line: It needs more balance to be a great beer, but it's not bad. It's just a bit too bitter.
2.5/5
