It’s a really nice Saturday afternoon on Memorial Day weekend. My parents came to town and are watching the kids while my wife and I shop for a minivan. It’s been a good morning visiting dealerships and test driving cars, and we stopped back at home for lunch. I was looking for a nice IPA, and fortunately, just picked a few up on Friday. I decided to go for the Indica India Pale Ale from Lost Coast Brewery & Cafe. The label says, “Indica India Pale Ale is a smooth, full-bodied, unfiltered beer. It is radically hopped to give it an intense spiritual aroma.” Additionally, it says it’s 6.5% ABV.
When I poured it in the glass, it had a fairly thin head, and was a cloudy orange/amber color. It had a nice caramel and malty aroma with a bit of floral and citrusy hops.
The body was light to medium and the mouthfeel was a bit sharp from the carbonation and hops. Surprisingly, it had a full caramel/malty flavor with a dry citrusy hop finish. Being an India Pale Ale, I thought it would lean more toward the hoppy side, but it was pretty fairly balanced. The mark on the bottle said it was bottled on 9/9/09, so its possible it may have slightly lost some of its hoppiness.
Overall, it was a pretty good, balanced beer, although I think I was expecting it to be a little more hoppy (since it is an IPA). As far as a food, I would pair this with a good burger. I may have to see if I can track down a few more brews from Lost Coast to give them a try.
