Samuel Smith's India Ale
I love hoppy beers. Aggressive, bold, crazy flavors tend to impress me- this was not one of those beers. Oddly enough, that was a surprising good thing. Pours a rusty amber color with great head and a lovely amount of big bubbles that stay til the end. Awesome looking, very inviting. Smell raised my eyebrow. Sweet and malty? Floraly sweet and bready? What kind of IPA, even an EIPA, could this be? Intrigued, I took a sip... and then another... Malty. Very bready and biscuity. Hops? Where are they? They're floral and sweet- not aggressively bitter, sour, or attacking. A mild, very drinkable brew. Extremely smooth. I, a self-stated hopfiend, enjoyed this brew. It was different, and pleasingly so. Not too heavy, with different flavors and textures going on than your average IPA. Cheers Sam Smith, for raising my eyebrow a few times.