St. Arnold - Elissa IPA

I recently returned to my home city of Houston, TX for the first time in 15 years. I’m happy to say there is now a micro brewery there that appears to be kicking out some worthy beers. I especially found their version of a Cascade-based IPA enjoyable.

Appearance: Pours a beautiful pale golden orange with a decent off-white head.
Smell: A spicy hop aroma butting up against a good amount of fruit/citrus.
Taste: Solid malt backbone, and great hop flavor. Citrus more apparent in the aftertaste. Not overly bitter. There are some grassy, fruity, and a good amount of spicy flavors that are not present in the many Northwest IPA’s I’ve tried that rely exclusively on Cascade hops. This is what their website says is the exclusive hop used in brewing this beer. I’m not sure where these flavors come from … but I’m sure glad they’re there!
Mouthfeel: Solid body that feels solid on the tongue at the start, then dissipates well.
Drinkability: A unique IPA for this NW IPA drinker. Would definitely have liked to bring some back with me had it not been for all the other Holiday Gifts I was lugging back with me.

Comments

Dan Keeney says

January 6, 2007 at 4:57 pm

Disclosure: I help with PR for Saint Arnold Brewing Co.

Thanks for the write up! I just wanted to alert your readers who may have occasion to visit Houston during a weekend that the brewery offers a weekly tour at 1 p.m. on Saturdays. It was listed among the 10 best small brewery tours by USA Today. More information is available at http://www.saintarnold.com/.

St. Arnold – Elissa IPA

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