Fools Gold IPA (Nugget Copper) - Tasting Day

Time to taste the new IPA!  This brew was supposed to be inspired by the Nugget Nectar beer that Troegs Brewing Company puts out in March every year.  I figured this year I would try to make my own.  As mentioned in my previous post I had some issues on brew day.  I did not boil the wort for 90 minutes which I believe led to my gravity being a bit lower than I was hopping for and the color is not anywhere near an amber.  So the Imperial Amber Hopped Ale I set out to make is not more of a copper or deep gold color. 

With the description above it's pretty to easy to figure out why I am calling this test batch Fools Gold IPA.  There is one more reason which you will see in the tasting notes below:

Overview:  Deep Golden IPA brewed with 5 different kinds of hops, European Pilsner, Vienna and Munich malts.  Dry hopped for 5 days for added hop flavor.





OG = 1.055   IBUs = 87   SRM = 6  ABV = 5.9%

Appearance: Deep Golden - almost orange - in color with a large white head that fades pretty quickly after the pour.  Great lacing on the glass as I drink one while writing this review.

Smell: Great floral hop flavor. Smells a bit sweet and just a tiny bit of pine lingers in the background.

Taste:  It tastes almost exactly as the smell is described.  You get a floral, citrus-like flavor up front and on the back end it has just a small hit of earthy hop flavors. Very smooth and it can probably drink like a session beer. A session beer at 6% may not be too much of a session but these are very easy to drink.

Overall:  Since there were some issues on brew day I am not 100% sure what to say.  I have had beers that are in the upper 80's on the IBU chart and this doesn't taste like one.  So I would like it to be a bit more bitter.  Because it was not as bitter or as high in alcohol content it drinks very, very easily.  So at 6% and still bitter enough to know you are drinking an IPA, I decided to name it "Fools Gold".

I will for sure be brewing another batch with just a small amount of caramel malt and I will boil for the full 90 minutes and see where it takes us.  Two thumbs up though.  Best IPA to date!