Skagit River Scullers IPA
A dry-hopped height test pale ale. Strong malt body and big hop flavor.
3.5
189 reviews
Mount Vernon, United States
Community reviews
Wow. This tastes like a battle between the IBU liberation front and the crystal malt militia.....and nobody won. Just doesn’t work for me. Surprisingly heavy on the malty sweetness for a beer that has such a high rating. Also the hop aroma and flavor is mediocre; the hops come through mainly as bitterness (IBUs) which does not do a lot for me. Worst is the thick, caramelly mouthfeel that lingers after a swallow. I have not experienced that in too many other beers.
Citrus hops are apparent as a complement to the toffee, cereal, grainy and caramel malty notes in the nose. Clear deep copper coloured body is topped by a ow, off white head that recedes to a partial cover with some lacing. Flavour follows the aroma - sweet and grainy with offsetting hop notes. Seems less like an IPA than a very strong bitter. Perhaps my bottle was on the shelf a while? The hops just don’t seem to carry through. Medium body. Moderate carbonation. Tulip glass. Cellar temperature Bottle.
Thanks to 5000 for sending me this bottle. Drank fresh back in March 2011. This is my 200th IPA rating.
The beer pours a dark orange color with a white head. The aroma is somewhat odd. I get a lot of sugary notes. The beer smells a lot of circus peanuts with a little bit of floral notes and some butter.
The flavor is a mix of grass and butterscotch. I also get some floral notes. Even with the off notes, I get a medium amount of bitterness.
Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.
I’m not a homebrewer so I don’t know what the flaw is in this bottle, but I am sure it is not what the brewer intended it to be.
Draught at St. Augustine’s, Vancouver
Hazy amber color, creamy head. Deep hop aroma, fruity, caramelly, malty, earthy, with manure. Good bodied; strong caramel flavor, some toffee, and a vein of more roasted malts; only some light fruitiness from the strong hopping; there is a moderate sugar residue; the final is maybe even too bitter. Powerful.
Draught@Taphouse Grill, Downtown Seattle
Clear amber color, small steady white head. Light fruity hoppy nose. Medium-bodied. Piney hoppy, woody flavor. Nice dry IPA.
Bomber. Light amber colored with an inch of solid beige head. Faded floral hops and caramel malt notes in the aroma. The taste starts strong on the grapefruit citrus and bitter hops characteristics with an equal dose of nutty malt and caramel. The body is slightly creamy with medium-level carbonation and a clean, bitter finish. Interesting take on the style and definitely more malt-forward than most PNW IPAs.
Bomber shared by MartinT.
Appearance : Shiny amber with a small white head.
Aroma : Nice cereals with nice caramel. Not that much hops.
Taste : Cereals and caramel. Bitter finish. Finish is also a bit citrusy and piny. Rather floral and resinous. Peppery.
Overall : Interesting stuff but not really my thing. Hops are not citrusy and fruity enough for my taste. Rather resinous and sticky with lots of cereals. Not bad though.
My Bottom Line:
Lightly caramelized cereals build a cozy mouthfeel until a portentous resinous hop bitterness seals this India Pale Ale.
Further Personal Perceptions:
-A creamy head of foam covers the shiny dark amber.
-The intensity of the hop bitterness was surprising, especially since the aroma was so unassuming.
-Hops were also peppery in the last half.
-The mouthfeel was soft and well rounded.
Bottle.
Tap @ ESC. Clear amber pour with a short, persistent, white head leaving heavy lace. Medium body with more than normal carbonation. Malts are biased towards dark-roasted, which is unusual for a PNW IPA. Coffee, tea, burnt toast and some lighter pine flavors. Not my style of IPA, but definitely stands out from the crowd.
On tap at brewery. Pours golden with a nice thick head that leaves lacing all the way down the glass. A nice solid IPA.
22 oz. bomber from Gravity Beer Market in Olympia. Transparent dark copper brown appearance. Shit my arms are still shaking from weight lifting, so please for any misspellings. Nice thin and yet, tight head. Heavy malt backbone with a decent pine hop profile. Not much on the nose, and not very nuanced. I’m also getting a light orange citrus hop aroma, as well. Wow, a huge pine-hop bitterness at first, probably due to the dry hopping. That aforementioned bitterness lingers for quite some time. A little malt sweetness touches the tongue to provide some balance, but it’s [the aroma] quite favoring the, now, astringent bitterness. There seems to be some harsh bitterness for no reason other than to be bitter. I know IPAs are supposed to be bitter, but not astringently so. The beer does have a nice resinous texture. This isn’t a bad beer, and I also question its freshness.
Draft. Light golden body, white puffy head. Alcohol well-hidden. Malts are subdued. Typical, resiny-hopped west coast IPA. Not that there’s anything wrong with that!
A very good, very hoppy ipa with plenty of flavor from the hops, so it’s not just bitter.
wonderful looking beer, very nice creamy head, overall though for a $5 bottle, not as impressed as I hoped to be.
Burboun red in color. Big pillowy head. Nice hoppy nose. Very hoppy attack with a long lingering dry finish. Yummy beer!
Pours rich ruby amber with particles and a rocky beige head. Aroma of caramel and dull faded hops, still very resinous though. Taste is very bitter up front but not sweet citrus, all pine. There is lots of caramel malt and dark fruit, toffee, almost like a barleywine at this point. Medium thick body, soft carbonation. Overall this bottle seems old and I will need to retry it to see if this is right.
Lovely brassy amber with a hop-pocked head. Bitter, stinging nose of hops and caramel malt. Unbalancedly bitter body with unpleasant sourness. Sour-bitter finish. Disappointing.
On tap at The Taphouse, pours a clear copper. Aroma of hops, citrus, and caramel malt. Flavour follows, with a dry palate. Quite good.
22 oz. bottle via trade with highibus - Pours a clear copper color with a nice size light tan head. Nice layered lacing. Flavor and aroma is lightly sweetened toasted malt with some pine and herbal hops. Finish is fairly bitter and a tad bit astringent. Medium body. A nice IPA. Thanks Tom.
Skagit River Brewing Company--Sculler’s IPA--2006 22 oz. Bottle Release. 7.20% ABV?--75 IBU’s? (4.5 / 5.0) IPA--Mild lacy head. Cold hazed bright rich amber red color. Big earthy floral hop front. Rich tangy sweet malty earthy thick caramel body. Big tart hop spice bitter clean end. Mellow spicy fruit ester note. Sampled 4/28/2006.
10.03.09 22oz bottle. Pours light amber with thin white head. Aroma of bread, malty, slight citrus hop. Tastes bitter, slight fruit and citrus, bready. Dry mouth feel.
The Dan Journal #307. Tasted 10/3/09. 22oz bomber. Filtered with a dark golden hue. Clinging bone-white head. Malty nose with a trace estery note. Caramel and figgy. Medium bodied and very dry. Peppery hops. Nice bitter character. Nutty, piney and earthy. English style dry. Good lacing. I like the bottle.
Poured orange with a moderate off-white head. Aroma is caramel malt, tangerine and grapefruit. Flavor is caramel and bready malt, more tangerine and grapefruit, plus a more bitter, resinous pine hop flavor on the finish. Quite good.
Bomber courtesy of Scrizzz Pours clear medium amber with a thick 3 finger light tan head that becomes a stubborn iceberg in the middle of the glass. The nose is pretty faint with some earthy hops, light citrus and some malt. The taste is malt and bitter resin that lasts for quite awhile. Medium mouthfeel. Didn’t expect this one to be so bitter from the aroma. Nice IPA – thanks Clint!
A nice deep copper aroma is lightly pinet hops. Medium body with a decent hop finish. Not bad.
tasting note from pacific nw trip last fall: dark amber pour with white cream head. floral and citrus hops in the nose. grapefruit, flowers and caramel tastes with a lingering hoppy bitter finish. K7
22 oz bomber from MoC. Hazy orange pour with a small, persistent white head. Aroma of biscuity malt and some pine and citrus aroma. Flavor is malt heavy, but with both those hop characteristics as well. Mouthfeel is moderate. Not as hoppy as I’d like in an IPA, but not bad.
Clean clear light toffee with a small sticky white head, rich thin lacing down the glass. Perfumey aroma, some pine. Strong fierce hop character, beyond many IPAs. Light with the malt, pungent with the hops. Balanced? Not really, but I dig IPAs this way. Stinging bitterness lingers for quite some time. Definitely not a double IPA, but it’s certainly bigger than most.
2009 Bottle -Thanks Finn! - Pours out a cloudy dk orange with a small off white head...aroma is malty with hop florals coming through...flavour is predominantly hop bitterness, not with and direction, but bitter to be bitter....malt is present but doesn’t balance...resinous and biting...not terrible, but far from great...
On tap at Tap House Grill in Seattle. Color was a darker than expected, reddish-amber. Aroma of flowers and citrus. Flavor of fruit, bread, flowers and BO. It just didn’t click for me. For the style it was poor in my opinion.