ImPaled Ale - Middle Ages Brewing Co., Ltd.

John

New York

4.9/5  rDev +28.3%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

Another excellent IPA. So fresh tasting on cask. Obviously dry hopped directly in the cask.

Serving type: bottle

09-24-2001 13:48:12 | More by John

Citadel82

New Jersey

4.72/5  rDev +23.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Another Middle Ages buck a bottle special from New World Beverage...

Balanced, tasty and refreshing. This is a very drinkable IPA... I thought the bloody spear thing on the lable was a tad wierd however...

I am truly saddened that I only snagged one bottle of this as it is truly a treat.

Poured a hazy copper with a generous long lasting, lacy tan head. Left lots of lace and never reallty went away.

Aroma was floral/citric hops with hints of biscuity malt and pine.

Taste was all malt and hops in a delightful balance. The sweet malt with its cracker and fresh yeasty bread notes were offset with pine and citrus from the hops...

Creamy and thick on the palate. Long loiter time allowed the rich balanced flavors to linger a long time...

Very drinkable, must get more.

Serving type: bottle

04-01-2006 01:50:05 | More by Citadel82

bbutler527

New York

4.7/5  rDev +23%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

The distinctive flavor imparted by the Ringwood yeast makes this one of my favorite brews of all time. (Some love it, some hate it, but it works for me.) Many varieties of IPA were tried before we chose this one as our house beer, and among the 18 taps at our bar, it remains one of our biggest movers. Great aroma, some citrus, some floral, full mouthfeel and good duration on the aftertaste, but not adhesive. This is a beer that is perfectly suited for quaffing or sipping, and after skiing or after golf.

Serving type: on-tap

03-15-2006 04:47:11 | More by bbutler527

jameswaldo

New York

4.63/5  rDev +21.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Lotsa winter sun shining through this bottle, seems a clear brew, but poured into a pint glass, just a slight haze shows in copper, SRM 14 on my Beer Color Chart here. Very teeny tiny bubbles rise all the time, more discrete than good champagne. Excellent head shrinks slowly, leaving sticky lace on glass and persistent foam on surface. Smells yeasty to me, slightly greenish hop blossomy, don't smell malt. Tastes just great, excellent simple solid-block bitter with hints of yeast and caramel, only a beer pretzel and goat cheese nearby could possibly improve this delish mouth-watering happy/hoppiness. I also enjoy IPAs with more various multi-noted hop flavor, but this huge juicy simple unified hop taste is great, too. Mouthfeel could be too carbonated if you don't pour big head, so let it splash high from your bottle pour. Long lingering oily hop aftertaste just what hopheads live for. I'll admit I'm biased toward local beers, grew up in Syracuse, live in Ithaca now so this counts as locavore politically correct ale for me and I try to keep ImPaled Ale in fridge at all times. Only 2 left? Time for another fresh 6-pack!

Serving type: bottle

02-08-2010 21:55:34 | More by jameswaldo

pandashaver

New York

4.53/5  rDev +18.6%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Beautiful pour from the cask, nice foamy head with some fine lacing that lasts. Aroma was the best quality, perfect for an IPA - floral, spice, fruit, hoppy. I could just stand there and smell this all day. Taste was just like the nose, with plenty of hop bitterness coming through in the finish. Lingers on the palate, very good med-thick body. Most notable of this IPA (other than the pleasant flowery aroma) is the smoothness, meaning it doesn't overwhelm the palate with hops and is very drinkable.

Serving type: cask

04-07-2009 18:45:15 | More by pandashaver

Jason

Massachusetts

4.45/5  rDev +16.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Presentation: 12 oz brown long neck with no freshness date to be found.

Appearance: Copper in colour with orange hues. The head is huge and dissipates slowly ... yeah it is quite a stick mass also.

Smell: Delicate hop aroma ... sweet and floral. Some fruitiness comes through along with a bit of malt.

Taste: Thick medium body with a chewy malt mouthfeel. A big dose of hops hit the palate though it is rounded off by malt sweetness, big fruit and a touch of grain. The hop bitterness and flavour lingers for a bit while a shadow of diacetyl show in the taste.

Notes: Well crafted and well balanced ... maybe a little too fruity but what do you expect for the Ringwood yeast strain. One of the top IPAs in the US ... this is the real stuff.

Serving type: bottle

04-01-2002 11:36:54 | More by Jason

Mark

California

4.45/5  rDev +16.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

While English ale is my favorite, I'm also a hop head. This IPA falls in to the medium category as far as hoppiness goes but it sure bowled me over. Outstanding head retention sat upon a medium amber body, lacing was copious. Aroma was tremendous with notes of roasted malt and citrus. Taste was not over the top hopped, and had a nice malty base and as I said before a slight roastiness. Top notch drinkabilty from this east coat IPA, thanks McCall for this fine IPA.

Serving type: bottle

04-06-2003 19:31:39 | More by Mark

Phatz

Pennsylvania

4.45/5  rDev +16.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

I was extremely and pleasantly surprised by this beer. IPA are easy to come by so an impressive stand out one is harder to find. The easy balance the fruity freshness... it is so easy to drink. I shared several of these with BAs carlos, gottajiboo2 & phnphilly, last night. I like it so much we finished all but one to review tonight.

Appearance: Pours a gorgeous orange light copper with a massive four finger head that fades to two fingers and retains for a while even moon like craters form in the rocky thick head. The lacing is thick and heavy and sticky and very impressive.

Smell: fruity orange citrus. Fresh oranges, orange peel, grapefruit almost pine like acidity with a sweet caramel, crystal malts and touch of sweet browned butter.

Taste: This beer is not extreme. it is not over the top it *is* the epitome of sessionable in my mind. It has a great perfumey balance of sweet and citric. The fruit flavor melds seamlessly into the citric grassy hop flavor. The base is a sweet grain flavors malt this is light and crisp and overall easy to drink and quite refreshing.

Mouthfeel: The mouthfeel has a good combination of bitter and dry elements / to carbonation giving it a smooth feel across the tongue to the back of the throat. the finish is not perfectly smooth there is a spot of dry bite where the beer sticks for a second at the top of the esophagus before sliding down the throat. Bizarre, but it happened that way for me. The burps taste quite good though so it makes up for it =)

Drinkability: This is a very approachable easy balanced beer that is built to drink; and drink I did.

Hope this is helpful.
Cheers!

Serving type: bottle

06-06-2007 06:20:36 | More by Phatz

beveragecaptain

New Jersey

4.43/5  rDev +16%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

12 ounce bottle. This beer pours out a light brown color with a large white head. The aroma is caramel, fruit, and hops. Nice malty caramel flavor with lots of fruitiness, like tangerines and grapefruit. A little buttery. Hops come in almost immediately, and are very flavorfull, though not very bitter. Mouthfeel is medium. This beer has an addictive flavor that makes it very drinkable. This is a very good change of pace IPA.

Serving type: bottle

10-02-2005 23:52:04 | More by beveragecaptain

orfeu

New Mexico

4.43/5  rDev +16%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

On cask at Pizza Plant Walker Center in Williamsville. Golden amber with slow and slight but steady rising carbonation and a slightly grey dirty-dishwater head. Very English floral hop aroma, Fuggles probably, and a quite expected buttery scent, too. Mild soapy scent at the end. Reminds me of their 10th Anniversary Ale, except tamed down (duh). Bitter soapy floral hop flavors predominate the first sip with a distinctly mineral finish. Subsequently, a toasted biscuit malt shows, but the flowery English hops are all over this one. A peachy fruitiness emerges, along with a subtle butterscotch flavor, around mid-glass. Medium body and smooth, creamy mouthfeel. Despite slightly high abv, this strikes me as eminently sessionable, so long as one is in the mood for a bit of diacetyl -- and I think that Middle Ages uses that characteristic quite to their advantage, despite the dislike some may have for a "buttery" flavor in their beer. I'm far from an expert, but from what I know, ImPaled Ale seems pretty on-point for this style. Nice EIPA.

Serving type: cask

04-07-2006 21:38:43 | More by orfeu

GFSchwab

New York

4.43/5  rDev +16%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

It was such an incredibly good beer.

It was poured on tap and had a light copper tone, with little head retentsion.

The aromas I got at the time were hints of citrus, pine, citrus, and an army of HOPS.

The taste was a textbook IPA with the warming ethanol, tofee after tate and avalanche of hops commanding control of my pallete.

The taste lingered long and confortably in my mouth with little carbonation making the drinking just a little more easier. Despite being reasonably complex and high in alcohol, it was very drinkable and did not make me feel weighed down after it.

Serving type: on-tap

11-14-2007 23:35:24 | More by GFSchwab

dsa7783

New Jersey

4.4/5  rDev +15.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Single, twelve-ounce bottle copped from New Beer Distributors on Chrystie Street in Manhattan...
Teriffic appearance - pours a hazy, dark-orange hue with rising carbonation and a giant foamy head that exhibited enormous staying power...
Hop-filled aroma bursting with wet, fresh hops, bittersweet citrus and lemons...
Taste was exceptional, loaded with wet hops, grapefruit, spices, lemons, thick, rich, bittersweet flavors...
Creamy, rich mouthfeel and a top-notch level of drinkability to match with a nice 6.5% ABV...
Excellent depiction of the style...
Definitely recommended...

Serving type: bottle

06-26-2008 23:32:57 | More by dsa7783

kmpitz2

Tennessee

4.38/5  rDev +14.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

This beer comes to me from shippos and clvand0. Thanks guys. It pours a coppered gold color with a small head that falls to coat the beer. The nose is really heavy in caramel and buttery diacetyl, with a background spicey hop as well. The flavor is nice, with the spicey hop upfront, moving to a buttery caramel with a residual bitter. Good show. The feel is moderate with a good carb. Middle Ages has done well with this English pale ale. I really like the residual bitter after the swallow.

Serving type: bottle

02-22-2005 00:29:09 | More by kmpitz2

GeoffRizzo

Texas

4.35/5  rDev +13.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours a cloudy, rusty orange with a semi-thick, bubbly head. Pleasant floral nose, malts and hops easily and nicely detected. An absolute blast, but well done, of hops is noted up front.
Somewhat medium bodied, creamy and on the border of being chewy. Some fresh fruit flavoring hits home as well. Tender bitterness, but oh so tasty. GET SOME!

Serving type: bottle

09-19-2003 03:00:30 | More by GeoffRizzo

Naerhu

Japan

4.35/5  rDev +13.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A - Nice big, slightly off-white, rocky head. Hazy amber body.
S - Massive floral grapefruit flavor.
T - Starts with a very bold bitterness that mellows out into a very nice broad maltyness.
M - Realitively light bodied beer for this much flavor. A little much with the carbonation tho.
D - This is by no means an English IPA. Far too much grapefruit, but it does have a lot of nice malt.

Serving type: bottle

12-03-2006 12:45:22 | More by Naerhu

kernalklink

Arizona

4.35/5  rDev +13.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Great looking IPA with a monstrous head and lacing lasts till the end. Citrusy hop aromas dominate along with a bready malt. Taste in no different; clean crisp hops smack the palate with a nice heavy malt backbone, while the beer stays on the light mouthfeel-wise. Hop profile makes this one a contender for champion of IPA trophy in my opinion.

Serving type: bottle

12-25-2006 16:17:26 | More by kernalklink

lovindahops

New York

4.35/5  rDev +13.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Nothing like a middle ages brew after a long drive all over the fingerlakes and rochester. Impaled none the less. I have had this so many times, yet never reviewed... So here we go!

A- a golden copper body with a monstrous head that recides with lacing all over. It literally glows and has the perfect look for an ipa

S- again with the ringwood yeast strain! Fruit in the form of apple and bananas. Faint on malt but it's there. I just love the buttery scent. It's second to none

T-delicious fruit mingling with citruc flavors are at the forefront. There is some malt notes partially through, however the bitterness screams at the end. It's a great ipa

M- the flavor is even carbonated and good

D- impaled is a stellar ipa. The crafting of this brew makes it so more unique than many other ipas out there. Highly recommended

Serving type: bottle

12-23-2010 00:20:03 | More by lovindahops

NeroFiddled

Pennsylvania

4.33/5  rDev +13.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

7% ABV. Pours a hazy, orange-tinted copper body that's topped by a frothy bone-white cap. The head holds well and leaves some fairly nice lace throughout the glass. The nose expresses a distinct note of buttery diacetyl that blends nicely with some apricot-like fruitiness and a soft & sweet floral hoppiness. It's very nice, and in fact, I think all of the Middle Ages beers prove that the Ringwood yeast strain can produce some excellent character. The body is medium, but its very fine carbonation is creamy in the mouth and gives the impression of a bigger body. The flavor starts hoppy and finishes hoppy! There's a nice jolt of fruitiness up-front, followed by some soft malt before finishing with a flourish of hop bitterness that leads into a long dry finish accented by lightly earthy and floral hops. Eventually a mild touch of buttery diacetyl also reappears. It's well balanced with a solid bitterness, but it never overwhelms the palate. It expresses much more character as it warms and that's attested to by the fact that it took a Silver medal at the 1998 Real Ale Festival in Chicago! Very nicely done, and well worth trying.

Serving type: bottle

01-19-2003 09:43:59 | More by NeroFiddled

alexgash

Connecticut

4.33/5  rDev +13.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Another great beer delivered by Kluk...
I remember having this on tap at the Blue Tusk in Syracuse last May, and this bottle picked up where that pint left off. Pours a nice copper with a medium-sized vanilla ice cream-colored head. Smell is a unique bitter toffee scent. Taste: interesting. Buttery toffee malts--a little sweet--balanced nicely by an "impaled" bitter hop finish. Different than most West Coast IPAs that I've had. I really like this version though.

Serving type: bottle

08-15-2003 19:23:58 | More by alexgash

canoehornpoint

Pennsylvania

4.33/5  rDev +13.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

deep golden with a nice white lacy head. This stuff was a winnner when I sniffed the empty bottle after pouring. This has a nice fruity citrus nose. The taste confirms the aroma. This starts light and wham, you're hit with a barrage of well blended citrus and mild fruit, evenly checked by bitterness which eventually takes over the experience in the finish. THe finish is long and pleasantly bitter.

Serving type: bottle

12-24-2004 01:20:31 | More by canoehornpoint

clvand0

Kentucky

4.33/5  rDev +13.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Thanks to Shippos for sending this one along to me. Pours a light amber color with a small head that dies off quickly, but leaves a little lacing around on the glass. The aroma is very buttery, but I like it a lot. Some caramel malts and nice aroma from the yeast. Not much hops in the nose. The flavor is enjoyable as well. The yeast gives it a slightly spicy character that blends smoothly with the malt character. Drinkability is good and the mouthfeel is right where it should be.

Serving type: bottle

02-24-2005 19:45:41 | More by clvand0

Metalmonk

North Carolina

4.33/5  rDev +13.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours a big, fluffy, off-white head, and bubbles are plentiful. Burnt orange/amber color. Great head retention and a good bit of lace.

Aroma recalls Juicy Fruit gum, citrus rind and cookie dough.

Flavor brings up big juicy hops first and foremost, but is well balanced by doughy maltiness, Juicy Fruit gum and powdery spices. Puckering finish brings citrus rind to mind again.

Light, springy mouthfeel is gentle and smooth without attaining any kind of watery thinness.

The IPA market is flooded,but Impaled Ale keeps its head way above water and satisfies in every way. Great beer from a great brewery.

Serving type: bottle

04-26-2007 20:55:18 | More by Metalmonk

jwc215

New Jersey

4.33/5  rDev +13.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Thanks to armock for this one!

Pours hazed golden with a foamy, slightly off-white head. Trailing lace sticks.

The smell is citric and herbal with an orange marmalade-ish malty tone in the back.

The taste is of herbal, citric and floral with an orange marmalade backing. Ringwood yeast character is there, but not dominant. Sweetness turns to a bitter, citric finish.

The carbonation could be a bit softer, but fine as it is. It has a slightly buttery, smooth medium body.

Well-balanced but style hoppy enough to fit an English-style IPA. Nice English character with an American (Cascade) hop touch in the finish. Very easy to drink!

Serving type: bottle

01-31-2009 19:37:25 | More by jwc215

BeerAngel

Texas

4.3/5  rDev +12.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

This beer pours a nice clear light copper color with a massive off-white head. The aroma is dominated by citrusy hops and has a light caramel that is barely noticeable in the background. Again repeated in the taste are the pungent citrus flavored hops, with a light sweet fruit, caramel, and roasted malts all lingering in the background. The creamy mouthfeel is something I haven’t experienced in most IPA’s, but is quite welcomed! Perhaps just slightly underhopped for an IPA, but it doesn't hurt this brew IMHO. This is a very impressive and fairly complex brew! Sent to me by a mystery BA (I will edit this when I find out who)…thanks! Cheers!

Serving type: bottle

01-15-2003 19:08:10 | More by BeerAngel

CastAStone

New York

4.28/5  rDev +12%
look: 5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

Bottle to glass at Alternative Brews, Buffalo, NY. I asked the barkeep for a strong, hoppy pale ale, and he brought me this and Phin and Matt's Extrordanary Ale. It wasn't what I asked for per say, but I must say I was pleased.

Appearance: slightly cloudy, beautiful color, the bartender poured a great head that did not dissapate quickly.

Smell: nice, but weak. Fruity, which I did not expect.

Taste: Mid-level hoppiness, fruity, almost tangy. Very good.

Mouthfeel: It felt like any old ale, until you swallowed it, a great aftereffect feel - it lingers without leaving a film.

Drinkability: Very, very drinkable. you could easily chug this, although yould be missing out.

Serving type: bottle

01-07-2006 00:03:15 | More by CastAStone