Dundee India Pale Ale
Dundee Brewing (the Genesee Brewing owned line of beers), just recently announced the re-release of their Fall seasonal pack a couple of weeks ago. In addition to the return of the company’s Porter and this India Pale Ale are two new offerings, an English Style Ale and Nut Brown Ale. First, let’s focus on the IPA since the weather hasn’t quite dipped too low, temperature wise.
Brewed with a combination of Columbus, Willamette and Chinook hop varieties, this 6.3% ABV IPA was probably my favorite of the seasonal packs options. The beer comes in at 60 IBU giving it a manageable, yet decent bit of hop bite on the tongue. It’s an enjoyable brew that has a solid malt base and an active hop presence that would be appropriate for just about any time of year, but sitting on the deck after an afternoon of raking leaves worked out just fine by me.
Appearance
The beer pours a clean, medium amber in color with a small white head that fell to patchy surface lacing. It’s a little darker than many IPAs which gave me the impression that I’d be in store for a solid helping of malt.
Aroma
Yep. There they are. The aroma starts off with bready malts before transitioning through hints of grapefruit, grass and pine. The IPA elements are all there, but are a touch subdued and don’t quite have that pungent punch that I love in the style.
Taste
To tell you the truth, I was pleasantly surprised with this brew. It’s got a solid balance between toasted, slightly sweet malt and a well rounded hop character. Once the malt component has shifted toward the finish, the hops bring hints of citrus, grass and a little pine resin. At 6.3%, it’s certainly not a big beer and it’s easy drinking nature allows you to enjoy a couple of bottles in a sitting. The bitterness that the hops bring to the table isn’t huge, but it’s still enough to let you know what style of beer is sitting in your glass.
Overall
I really enjoyed this beer. Sure, there are better IPAs out there, but Dundee has done a nice job with this well balanced and easy drinking offering that is approachable from the hop bite stand point. Of the selections within the 12 pack, I found it the one that I reached for first — even when the excitement of reviewing a new beer arose, I passed the other options and went with the last bottle of India Pale Ale.
Rating: 3.75/5
This is a review of a promotional sample received from the brewery.