Genesee Brewing Co., Tap Room IPA (Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference), 6.3%abv. (AIPA)

Purchased at my local Sainsbury’s supermarket, this beer is said to be brewed by “Tap Room Brewing Company”, for the Sainsbury’s under the “Taste the Difference” range of products. Coming in a slim 355ml slim brown bottle, BB 09/2013, served cool in a straight beer glass.

3.5/5 Appearance: pours a straight amber colour, faintly hazy, coming with a well-lasting off-white foamy head and rather fine carbonation.

3.5/5 Smell: fresh pale malts come hand in hand with flowery & lightly citrusy hop aroma upfront, not rich or so pronounced as one’s impression of an American IPA, but simply pleasant~

3.5/5 Taste: the lightly effervescent (not so much as the APA previously tasted) swallow of spicy bitter, earthy yeasty and citrusy fruity flavour is backed by a rounded mouthful of lightly caramely, toasty & nutty malts, leading straight to a moderately bitter, semi-rough estery and simultaneously citric acidic-sweet finish. Pretty simple and pleasant, really.

3.75/5 Mouthfeel & 3.5/5 Overall: the mouthfeel is soft as much as refreshing, medium-bodied, with a rather one-dimensional flavour profile in comparison with most other American IPA I’ve tasted. The straight-forward-ness makes it a surprisingly quaffable, session-type, well, “American Bitter”, shall we say. But my taste buds yearn for more, far more for this beer style.

--Yau (16/02/2013)