Summit True Brit IPA Review

Name: Summit True Brit IPA
Style: English IPA
ABV: 6.4%

Tonight I'm going to review what I consider to be a timeless classic from Summit Brewing's line-up: their True Brit IPA, an English Style IPA as you may have guessed from the name. Now it wasn't always called "True Brit"; In fact, prior to their image and label overhaul, it was simply called Summit India Pale Ale.

Then much like the rest of the beers in Summit's lineup, each one received a facelift, a couple got a name change, and one beer (Horizon Red) even received a different recipe change. However, True Brit just changed in it's name only.

True Brit pours a clear orange color with a foamy head that eventually becomes filmy while still maintaining retention. The visible carbonation is pretty mild carbonation and the lacing left behind is quite good.

In the nose, I'm picking up on some fairly strong caramel malts which are back up by citrus hops, grapefruit notes, and some light toffee notes.

Flavor-wise, it’s very caramel malt forward, which is to be expected out of an English IPA. Luckily the citrus & piney hops help bring balance to the overall flavor. The palate is pretty light overall and the carbonation is also very mild. It's a pretty easy easy-to-drink IPA overall.

True Brit is a good example as to how to do an English IPA correctly. It doesn't do anything exciting necessarily but it tastes great and it's easy to drink and honestly, that's what having a good beer is all about.

Summit True Brit IPA - 8.5/10

Brooklyn East India Pale Ale Review

Well we are finally at the end of the Brooklyn Brewing Sampler Pack and I'll be finishing it off with a review of Brooklyn East India Pale Ale, an English India Pale Ale with a 6.9% ABV. It's supposedly based off of a recipe used by George Hodgson, a brewer who lived in England during the 19th Century, who would brew this ale and send it to British Troops who were stationed in India during the time of the British Raj. These beers would usually arrive in the city of Kolkata (Calcutta) in West Bengal, India

Since I just got done watching Kahanni, which is not only an excellent Indian movie but also is set in Kolkata, I feel it's only appropriate to take a look at this beer.

It pours a fairly clear orange color with a fairly large amount of carbonation. Head has a soapy look to it and the lacing it leaves behind is spotty.

The nose has a fairly strong caramelized malt scent to it, along some citrus hops, toffee and yeasts. It smells oddly familiar to my Sierra Madre Pale Ale homebrew I did, but my homebrew has a strong malt profile. The flavor is more balanced out with citrus hops, caramel, malts and yeasts. The aftertaste is a bittersweet piney hop finish.

The body overall is pretty light, crisp and easy to drink. Being that this is an English IPA, it fits in rather well when you consider the sum of it's parts.

This is a straight up English IPA just by how it smells and tastes. The aroma may come off as a bit malty but the flavor is very well rounded and balanced when compared to the former. I think Brooklyn Brewery did a good job with this one and I would recommend trying this out.

Brooklyn East India Pale Ale - 8/10