Steel Toe Size 7 Review

Name: Steel Toe Size 7
Style: India Pale Ale
ABV: 7%

I was recently down in Minneapolis with my wife when I decided to grab a couple bombers of beer to take back with us; The first of which I will be taking a look at today which is an offering from Steel Toe Brewing called Size 7, which is the brewery's standard IPA. Since this St. Louis Park-based brewery is not available in Duluth yet, I decided to grab it.

Interestingly enough, Size 7 is just one part of the brewery's IPA lineup; The other two being the Size 4 IPA (Session IPA) and Size 11 (Imperial IPA). Next time I'm down in the Twin Cities, I should try and acquire at least one of them.

Size 7 pours a dark orange color with a foamy white head. The amount of visible carbonation is low and the lacing retention is quite good.

The aroma starts out with some citrus hop and grapefruit notes with some apricot sweetness and a caramel maltiness lingering in the back.

Much like the nose, the flavor starts out very grapefruit and citrus hop forward with some apricot sweetness. However the caramel malt backbone plays a more active role here by keeping the hops from taking over the flavor, while at the same time providing a good malt sweetness. As for the aftertaste, it takes on a bitter citrus hop flavor with just a touch of maltiness.

The body is quite heavy and has a good amount of thickness to it. The carbonation is on the moderate side but it does help give the flavor a little more depth than it already has.

Size 7 is a excellent example of the IPA style. It has the strong hoppiness that many IPA fans crave yet it's malty enough to keep it from being too overbearing. I encourage anyone who considers themselves to be a fan of the IPA style to try this out!

Steel Toe Size 7 - 9/10