Crow Peak 11th Hour IPA
This is a review of a promotional sample received from the brewery.
I can’t say that I know a whole lot about South Dakota except that, well, it’s south of North Dakota (which I also can’t tell you all that much about). A little quick research online shows that there is a total of only four brewing establishments within this fairly good-sized state. That’s not a whole lot of local beer for a area this size. Despite that small number, I can now check South Dakota off my list as Crow Peak Brewing’s 11th Hour IPA is the first beer from the state that I’ve ever had.
The brewery is relatively new, having only established itself in 2007 with a small five barrel system before expanding in 2009. I can’t imagine that I will ever have this beer again — the brewery only serves South Dakota — so I made sure to enjoy it as much as I could. And to tell you, honestly, it’s a pretty tasty little IPA. It’s not a West Coast hop bomb by any means, but it’s got a nice balance and is easy drinking.
Love the label design!
Appearance
I love the color of this brew. It’s a deep amber with a slight haziness (possibly from being too cold) and was capped by a decent sized, off-white cap.
Aroma
There’s a good amount of toasted malt, a little malt sweetness, grapefruit and pine resin making up the nose. It’s not overly hoppy and smells pretty well balanced.
Taste
The flavor profile is right in line with the nose with a slight tilt toward the maltier side of things before quickly shifting to a decent amount of grapefruit and moderate hop bitterness that lingers a good long while. At 6.5% ABV this is an easy drinking IPA that may not be for you hop heads out there that want a brutal bitter punch in the palate, but I found it refreshing and tasty. The beefier malt profile throughout the beer was unexpected, but did little to dampen the hop presence.
Overall
I liked this IPA. It leans more toward the malt component, which is a little different than most American IPAs, but I sort of enjoyed that about the beer. I’ve been drinking some pretty hoppy beverages lately so this was a nice change of pace. It’s a smooth drinking beer that still has enough of a hop bite to let you know it’s there. I could see myself putting a few of these away.
Rating: 3.5/5