Epiphany Ale - Iron Springs Pub & Brewery

mjl21

California

4.03/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On tap at the brewpub. Poured into a pint glass. Comes in at 5.9%.

A-Pours a really nice reddish brown with a one finger off white head that just does not want to reduce.

S-It has a very SN like nose. They use a ton of Cascade in this one and the citrus it gives off is quite noticeable. There is also a little bit of sweet malt being picked up.

T-The citrus taste from all of the Cascade hops hits first. There is a nice malty backbone that blends the two together which results in a minimal level of bitterness.

M-On the larger side of the medium spectrum. Creamy and smooth from being force carbonated.

D-Went down easily. Lots of hop flavor without the bite.

This has always been one of their featured ales and I had not tried it until last night. Reds and ambers are not always my favorite stlye, but this one won me over with all of the Cascade goodness inside.

Serving type: on-tap

05-30-2009 17:14:29 | More by mjl21

t0rin0

California

4/5  rDev +5.5%

10-15-2012 01:53:06 | More by t0rin0

rbrefbeerman

California

3.75/5  rDev -1.1%

08-26-2012 22:37:00 | More by rbrefbeerman

lacqueredmouse

Australia

3.28/5  rDev -13.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bottle purchased from Ledger's Liquors in Berkeley, CA.

Pours a very hazed brown-amber hue, with a fine, somewhat insubstantial head of yellowish white, that forms nicely when poured, but eventually subsides to film. Some speckled lacing. Body looks surprisingly strong for the ABV. It's not great looking, but it's not bad.

Nose is, again, not great, but not bad. Blind, it seems like what you expect from the style. Generic slightly piney US West Coast hoppiness, with a touch of sweetness and turbid malt. The sweetness forms perhaps as a little too strong for the hops, which are middling at best, but it ticks the boxes for the style at least.

Taste is similar, in that the two characters are quite generic. However, they sit quite disparate from each other, with the malt providing a chalky caramel and carob character that dominates the front, before a strikingly bitter, oily hop presence comes through on the back. It's not unbalanced as a result, but it sure is pretty ordinary.

Yeah, it's not great. It's not bad. It's not much of anything, except that it doesn't wildly deviate from style. I'm certainly not a huge fan, but I can't really fault it either. And maybe that's what's annoying me about it.

Serving type: bottle

06-20-2012 04:48:36 | More by lacqueredmouse

tizride

California

3.75/5  rDev -1.1%

06-01-2012 02:57:59 | More by tizride

gleemonger

California

4.75/5  rDev +25.3%

03-29-2012 01:27:34 | More by gleemonger

brotherloco

California

3.25/5  rDev -14.2%

03-26-2012 00:50:26 | More by brotherloco

TGS

California

4/5  rDev +5.5%

02-09-2012 17:26:31 | More by TGS

mactrail

California

3.08/5  rDev -18.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Red amber in the glass. Not very foamy, but a nice slush in the mouth. Seems to fit the mold for this hoppy, earthy style. Fairly malty with a slight sweetness, but also on the acidic side. Aroma can only be described as beery, with a little roast malt in the nose. Lots of bitter hops with a tickle of grapefruit peel. Warm and buttery, but mostly hops. I don't know what they do to the malt to get this dirty flavor.

22 oz bottle from Beer Revolution in Oakland.

Serving type: bottle

01-30-2012 04:26:35 | More by mactrail

leprakhan

California

4/5  rDev +5.5%

12-28-2011 05:32:42 | More by leprakhan

jenray

Texas

3/5  rDev -20.8%

11-25-2011 15:40:04 | More by jenray

avaldivia

California

4.25/5  rDev +12.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Tasted at Whole Foods in Novato, in their tasting area. Poured into a snifter.

A: Dark amber appearance. Thick head about 2 fingers wide. excellent lacing left on glass.

S: Very hop forward. I definitely get citrus and caramel. it is a bit sweet but not cloyingly.

T: Wow, very hop forward for this particular style. I get a lot of hops upfront and then a lot of caramel. Very rich flavors that do not muddle or meld into each other.

M: Thick. Rich. Great carbonation.

O: I was familiar with this beer, but I had never tried it until today. I was happy I did because this is a great unique beer in this style. It is very affordable and one I will pick up again.

Serving type: bottle

07-30-2011 04:13:02 | More by avaldivia

illidurit

California

3.28/5  rDev -13.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bomber poured into a tulip glass. Pours a deep ruby-copper, hazy enough to be opaque, with a small off-white collar of head. Aroma is crystal malty with a slight toasted note and some resiny citrus hops. Flavor is much the same with a classic iced tea crystal malt base and a rather subdued herbal hop profile. Pretty typical amber but too light on the hop flavor.

Serving type: bottle

06-16-2011 06:20:30 | More by illidurit

Seanibus

California

4/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

An odd duck, stylewise - malty and amber, but with a citrusy hop-forward flavor and a powerful bitter hop finish. It teeters toward out of balance, but somehow manages to keep it together. It gets points for being unusual.

Pours beep amber with an enormous tan head that leaves great lacing. The aroma is deep caramel and toffee with some walnut and a fairly restrained citrusy hop edge. The flavor, however, is extremely hoppy - bitter orange citrus with a powerful orange rind bitterness laid over a modest background of dark caramel malt. The finish is powerfully bitter, almost shocking so. But somehow it all works.

Serving type: bottle

04-25-2011 20:23:58 | More by Seanibus

kwjd

Ontario (Canada)

3.78/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I picked this up at City Beer in San Francisco just because the store clerk said it was good and it wasn't overly expensive. Pours an amber-brown colour with thick off-white head. Smells of big hops, piney, mineral and floral. Nice mix of bitterness mixed with the amber sweetness. Medium carbonation. Very nice beer.

Serving type: bottle

02-04-2011 21:41:48 | More by kwjd

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.85/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Ken's bottle. I liked this one, think its over 60 IBU which went with a strong malting tomake a most drinkable beer. Average mouthfeel. Cloudy reddish tinged body, three-eighth inch head, and lacey with lace rings. Decent hoppy flavour, a little complex, and a dry aftertaste.

Serving type: bottle

01-31-2011 16:39:07 | More by northyorksammy

stoutfiend27

North Carolina

3.8/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

bomber in the most recent with james...cheers to you

a-deep copper color...small lacy head....carbonation appears lively...

s-sweet malt and bitter twangy hops...nothing more

t-starts sweet then follows with bitterness...not unrelenting but the most bitter ive had in the amber category...finishes well...bitter

m-creamy and smooth...slightly oily from the hops...carbonation is spot on from what i can tell

d-no problem with finishing the bomber

Serving type: bottle

01-17-2011 00:34:33 | More by stoutfiend27

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

3.9/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A dark red and amber appearance, excellent lacing left halfway down the glass. Aroma, mostly astringent bitterness, maybe some of that peat moss feel you get in red ales. Psychosomatic I figure.

Taste, jeez, this is about the most bitter beer I've ever had in this style. A little thin in the malt, leaves this relatively light on the heft side of the palate, and crushingly bitter on the other. Not a big dry hop feel to this, if at all.

Anything with this amount of bitterness tends to have the inevitable metal twang. Seems to be very Cascade hop forward. Caramel forward is the next most prevalent flavor.

Can't complain about drinkability when this is $4 a bomber. Nice. Raiders just scored a TD, eat it Niners.

Serving type: bottle

08-29-2010 03:04:29 | More by Beerandraiderfan

SolomonGrundy

California

3.33/5  rDev -12.1%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Talk about Bitter and Hoppy!!! Pours a brilliant reddish brown. About one finger of tannish head, that settles quickly into a wisp-thin lace. Nose is lacking - some hops and not much else. Maybe a little candy corn in the nose. Flavor is like an epic naval battle. Both sides - hops and malt - lobbying shots back and forth. It's the hops that win out, though. Huge blasts of hops cavalcade over you, and then vanish beneath the waves of a somewhat short, surprisingly dry finish. Crisp and punchy, this one. Drinkable too at 6% ABV.

Serving type: bottle

08-13-2010 04:58:18 | More by SolomonGrundy

Mora2000

Texas

3.53/5  rDev -6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Thanks to bu11zeye for sharing this bottle.

The beer pours a murk brownish-orange with a white head. The aroma is malt with some citrus and pine. The flavor is a good mix of hops and malt. Lots of citrus and pine. Medium mouthfeel and high carbonation.

Serving type: bottle

03-19-2010 22:55:33 | More by Mora2000

nickd717

California

3.5/5  rDev -7.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bomber.

Pours dark amber with a medium-sized off-white head.

Aroma is grassy/citrusy hops, earth, and some caramel malt.

Flavor is more of the same: caramel malt, earth, grass, and citrus. A little hoppy, but the hops are more on the bittering side rather than the aroma/flavor side.

Medium body with a somewhat rough mouthfeel.

This is a very average beer overall, one that is highly unlikely to cause one to have an epiphany. Meh!

Serving type: bottle

03-08-2010 17:44:49 | More by nickd717

chickencoop

California

3.4/5  rDev -10.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Picked it up at a Marin County Whole Foods, good stuff in supporting the locals.
The beer itself was good but nothing special. I've had a few to get a better feel for the beer, but overall it was kind of a dissapointment. It was more hop-bitter than I personaly like, so that's on me. I would have liked a little more balance. I liked the pour, a dirty amber, but besides that nothing to bring me back, sorry.

Serving type: bottle

02-07-2010 06:17:26 | More by chickencoop

Chambic

California

3.68/5  rDev -2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

02.02.10 at Toronado

A: nice amber color

S: very floral

T: straight up tastes like flowers; a bit hoppy with a malty finish

M: pretty unique, like it's oily

D: it was worth trying, but I wouldn't have more than one of these in a sitting, especially given the choice

Serving type: on-tap

02-04-2010 21:50:45 | More by Chambic

popery

California

4.08/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A: Very good looking Amber. Dark amber colored liquid (spot on color match for SN Bigfoot) with a dense creamy head.

S: Rich caramel malt with a good deal of citric/floral hops.

T: It's almost great, but the bitterness gets a bit acrid in the finish. I'm not sure if it's yeast or hop acridness, but I definitely haven't kicked up the settled yeast with my pour (I haven't even poured the second half of the bottle). Except for this fault, the beer is pretty great and I'd bump the score up a half point otherwise. Anyway, the hops are strong and provide excellent balance to the malt.

M: A bit undercarbonated plus the previously mentioned off flavor hurts the feel.

D: Good, drinkable Amber.

Serving type: bottle

04-21-2009 04:14:03 | More by popery

xhcadamx

Maine

4/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A- Hazy autumn leaf red that has been in the leaf pile for awhile. White head that disappeared quite fast. No lacing.

S- Cascade Hops and a generous amount at that

T - Cascade Hops and a solid malt backbone. This beer is very well balanced and tasty.

M - Nice and thin. I enjoy a hoppy thin amber over a thick malty amber any day.

D - I would like to hang out this beer all day long.

Serving type: on-tap

11-30-2008 00:07:15 | More by xhcadamx