For lack of a better option, I stopped at neighborhood (albeit lackluster) liquor store on the way home. I picked up a six of Pyramid's Thunderhead IPA, which I've had on occasion before, but hadn't yet reviewed. Pyramid is a macro-micro, so their product is usually decent but not extraordinary or really innovative.
Appearance - Pours a rich copper with a solid finger of thick white head. The head retains moderately and laces lightly down the sides of the glass.
Smell - Aroma on this one is purely from the hop department with notes of grapefruit or other citrus at first while the head is still heavy. As the head dissipates, the hop aroma subsides and shares some of the nose with the sweeter honey notes from the malt.
Mouth feel - Rolls around in the mouth and fizzes away happily. This beer is more heavily carbonated or less viscous than some of the other IPA's I've had recently.
Taste - Although the nose is predominantly hop, the first flavor that hits my tongue is a caramel / honey note from the malt, but you can feel the liveliness and a touch of heat from the alcohol immediately. The flavor moves on to finish out with a balance of grapefruit peel and residual sweetness from the malt.
Drinkability - This is definitely a session IPA. Despite the fact that it doesn't blow me away, it's got the characteristics of a solid IPA without being overwhelming. In particular, it doesn't finish with a uniformly hoppy note and leave your mouth too puckered to drink more than one.
Most of the other reviews I've seen of this beer are mixed - it seems like people enjoy it to a moderate degree or don't. At $7 a six pack, I don't think you can really go too wrong with it. It's not as good as some of the other Pacific Northwest's IPA's, but seeing as I'm in Chicago and can't get my hands on Bridgeport very easily, it works.
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