This is a series of beer reviews and beer tastings of every cerveza available in El Salvador. From the national brands, the local imports and the European imports. We will be working through every beer type in the country. Including any home brew beers We can find including our own.
This beer was brewed on August 15, 2011 on our Pilot Brew system. This is a variation on a very tasty recipe we brewed back in the US. It is a “California Style IPA” so it is based loosely on a traditional India Pale Ale (IPA) but in the style of the better California breweries. This is the second version we brewed here and it is way better and more balanced than the first version. It is bottle conditioned and was conditioned for 3 weeks after a 7 day ferment. It is somewhat high in Alcohol By Volume (ABV) at 6.1% and pretty high bitterness/hops with an International Bitterness Unit (IBU) of 45. It is pretty good and is a pretty good IPA style.
Beer Score
(1 is sucky, 2 is marginal, 3 is decent, 4 is darned good, 5 is awesome)
Not as Chele in color as it is supposed to be but a very pretty deep amber dark honey color with a very appetizing tone. The aroma is astoundingly beautiful and complex. A very sweet perfumey hop aroma with great multi-hop complexity matches with a deep honey and panela sweet maltyness in the nose. The flavor is a really nice balance of intense hop flavors of bright citrus (grapefruit and pineapple) with a hint of green grape. The malty flavors are sweet and slightly dry with great honey and peach pie flavors. It is a VERY hoppy beer with a solid bitterness but it is pretty balanced sweet/bitter. The mouthfeel is well balanced with the right amount of heaviness and a really nice sparkling crispness. The finish is as complex and nuanced as the opening notes. THe malt and hops combine in a really attractive way and sort of bounce back and forth off each other. The finish is long and pleasant. It is very drinkable but often the high level of alpha acids in the hops kick it over into almost too bitter. NOT a run of the mill approachable beer, but a very strong personality. Overall I really like this beer and and pretty excited that this was brewed here in El Salvador and will only improve as we get our full pro brewhouse. If you like hoppy, complex and relatively balanced beers with intense flavors then step up and get some beer love.
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