Pedernales Brewing Company IPA - Review

Woot! My local brewery just started bottling this beer, so I grabbed a 6-pack.

Appearance (0-4): Pours up a crystal clear orange/ amber with a minimal white head. 3 points


Aroma/Bouquet (0-3): A subtle peppery, spicy hop nose. I was hoping for more hop aroma, and, after a nice visit to Seattle, more citrus in the nose. 2 points


Taste (0-10): Starts off with a flavor that reminds me of a Pilsner. A "brushy" flavor that I find in Pilsners and a lot of ambers. Other IPAs have a nice crystal-y mouth feel. It's hard to explain, but I had a Brew Free or Die IPA after one of these I could taste the malt that I didn't taste here.  Maybe after being quoted in Zymurgy about Pliny the Elder I am too far down the West Coast IPA road. Anyway, the hops kick in with a massively bitter, and not in a good way, flavor at the back and sides of my tongue and back of my throat. Maybe there are too many hops at the front of the boil, and not enough at the finish.  It needs more malt to cut through the hops. It leaves a very bitter finish. It's medium bodied, which is good, but the head falls way too quickly for me.  5 points


Overall Impression (0-3):  Dammit! I wanted to like this beer! But it's just too darned bitter at the finish. But, it is a local beer, and I can buy it here, so I give it full points. 3 points


Total: 13 points