Base Camp In-Tents IPL Review

Name: Base Camp In-Tents IPL
Style: India Pale Lager
ABV: 6.8%
IBUs: 62

Base Camp Brewing Company, based out of Portland, Oregon, has recently arrived on the shelves of Minnesota stores. They're a brewery that appeals to hikers and outdoorsmen & women with their imagery and marketing. In fact, judging from the design, I'm kind of shocked that this bottle didn't come from REI themselves. Speaking of which....

What also makes these guys so unique is that all of their bottles are made out aluminum with the idea that it'll keep the beer cool outdoors and thus allow it to cool faster when the bottle exposed to cold water, snow, etc. because no one likes warm beer; Let's not kid ourselves here.

On to the beer itself, I've got their In-Tents India Pale Lager, which I admit would probably be amongst my first choices of style to drink if I'm going on an all day mountain-bike excursion. It is also considered by the brewery to be their flagship beer. They also have a rye pilsner, saison and witbier available in my area as of right now but they also have a S'mores stout, all of which sound very tasty right about now.

Appearance - Mild-to-moderately hazy dark orange color. Not really too much in terms of carbonation and the head is more or less on the thinner side, but it has some good lacing to go along with it. Not going to lie, this looks a lot more like an IPA than an IPL.

Aroma - Citrus hop & orange peel notes on the front of the nose, along with some toffee sweetness and pale maltiness. I'm also getting some lager yeasts that aren't immediately apparent but become more noticeable after a couple minutes.

Taste - Starts off with some citrus hops & mild bitter hops. The pale maltiness is a lot stronger here along with the toffee sweetness, which I mentioned earlier. Along with all that is some lager yeasts, which encompasses the flavor as a whole. As for the aftertaste, it's bitter hops, lager yeasts and a certain type of sweetness I can't quite put my finger on. It's also worth noting too that it feels very smooth on the palate and it's quite easy to drink.

I could totally see myself drinking this after a long day of mountain biking in the wilderness. It's not too complex and it possesses some very easy drinkability. On top of that, the bottle itself is nice and sturdy and can take a lot of punishment should you somehow wipeout on your bike or trip while hiking.

Base Camp In-Tents IPL - 8.5/10