Masala Mama
Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery

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From:
Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery
 
Minnesota, United States
Style:
American IPA
Ranked #35
ABV:
6%
Score:
96
Ranked #1,160
Avg:
4.31 | pDev: 9.05%
Reviews:
688
Ratings:
1,411
Status:
Active
Rated:
Yesterday at 11:46 PM
Added:
Jan 01, 2003
Wants:
  867
Gots:
  92
American IPA brewed using Amarillo, Cascade, Centennial and Mt. Hood hops. A beer with crisp hop flavor and bitterness well balanced with American malt sweetness.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by TheLongBeachBum:
Photo of TheLongBeachBum
Reviewed by TheLongBeachBum from California

4.72/5  rDev +9.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5
Presentation: A brown Grolsch like, flip top, EZ Cap brown glass 'mini-Growler'. Simply has the letter ‘M’ in black pen scrawled on the white ceramic top. A present all the way from Minneapolis. Hell Yeah!

Appearance: Gorgeous rustic brown copper body that is perfectly lucid. Carbonation perfect, given that it was rebottled, this is impressive in of itself. A lovely collage of milky tan bubbles swirl 3 inches below the liquid surface as the Mama rises in my Imperial Pint glass, all the timing assisting the formation of a nice 1” thick tan head. Knowing this was rebottled, I kept some Mama back in the bottle for top-ups and to reinitiate any disappearance, but I shouldn’t have worried, head retention was pretty good. Nice slaking expanded ring lacing as I take each sip. Has a remarkable English Yorkshire Bitter appearance to it.

Nose: Lots of deep luscious hoppy aromas, light but inviting Satsuma odors with the zest of freshly squeezed pungent oranges. Slick hop oils, some pine smells and lots of chewy coniferous needles. Deep inhalation reminds me of the sharp wakening smell of Grapefruit on a morning. This will most certainly wake you up!

Taste: Concentrate hard, and at first you can detect biscuit, malts, caramel and some toffee, yet this is quickly consumed by the hoppiness of this one. Bitter at first, but a hoppy pine sharpness with an orange/lemon twist and a biting grapefruit feel in the back end. Lots of hops, hops, hops, hops. Maybe not the bitterest IPA, but it does impress the hell out of you with the resin like hop profile, yep this is certainly hoppy!

Mouthfeel: This is only 5.9%, and whilst it drinks well, personally I find that initially it has a bigger mouthfeel after the swallow, rather than during the preliminary imbibing experience. The lingering hoppy after-taste, mixed with the pine encrusted malts in the background, lend a bigger accent to the next mouthful. Sharp grapefruits induce saliva, all adding to the massive overall mouthfeel.

Drinkability: Easily imbibed, I dearly love the pine-hop-grapefruit flavors and long lingering aftertastes and, pardon the pun, the cascading mouthfeel that builds as you drink this. More, more, more Mama!

Overall: Absolutely superb, and to think that this was rebottled!!!! Wow, this would be a serious kick-ass beer fresh from the Cask - I simply must get to Minneapolis and the Town Hall Brewery!

A very impressive IPA, from an equally impressive BA! What to say, words are simply not enough. A *Serious* “Cheers Mate” to BigHuge for this offering. Top Marks all round. It really is true, wherever you find great beer, you *will* find great people. We must get to share a beer in person one day Joe, and I cannot think of a better place than the Town Hall Brewery when this monster Mama is on Cask. The first Cask is on me!!
May 20, 2004
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.37 by bschmidt_37 from Illinois

Yesterday at 11:46 PM
 
Rated: 4 by Nyoder

Nov 26, 2023
 
Rated: 4.15 by EdFed from Illinois

Nov 10, 2023
 
Rated: 4.44 by DownyIsHungry from Minnesota

Jul 30, 2023
 
Rated: 4.1 by not2quick from Missouri

Jun 09, 2023
Photo of AdmiralOzone
Reviewed by AdmiralOzone from Minnesota

3.99/5  rDev -7.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 4
Pours a clear amber/gold with a legitimate amount of off-white head. Leaves nice lacing. Aroma is a bold mix of caramel malt and piney hops. Flavor follows the nose, malty up front with lots of bitterness in the finish. Feel is medium bodied, a little light on the carbonation. Overall, a fine ale.
Oct 07, 2022
 
Rated: 3.79 by BRLockwood from Florida

Sep 29, 2022
 
Rated: 3.5 by blackcloud from Alaska

Sep 22, 2022
Photo of NCSapiens
Rated by NCSapiens from Indiana

3.85/5  rDev -10.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
CO2 version is an annoying combination of pine, resin and caramel malt.

Cask version is creamy, warm, and mild.

Neither yanked my crank.
Jun 16, 2022
 
Rated: 4 by atlbravsrno1 from Maine

May 07, 2022
 
Rated: 4.15 by adosen01 from Minnesota

Oct 04, 2021
Photo of jeffoert
Reviewed by jeffoert from Minnesota

4.21/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
This is, no doubt, an old-fashioned IPA, strong on the malt/hoppiness side. This is much better than their Dortmunder beer, I thought. I bought a growler of each. Definitely a better than average IPA but not sure it is worth the extra trouble and cost.
Jun 10, 2021
Photo of hhughes2008
Reviewed by hhughes2008 from Minnesota

4.37/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
L: Copper-auburn color with 1 finger of soapy foam that retains well, some lacing
S: pine, grapefruit, some biscuity/carmel malt aromas
T: resinous with a chewy malt backbone. Grapefruit, Candied oranges, cherry.
F: medium body, somewhat velvety, good carbonation
O: Crushed a 32 oz crowler of this easily and probably could have had more. Def my go-to West/Midwest IPA in the twin cities.
Sep 11, 2020
 
Rated: 4.25 by MonkeyPilates from Minnesota

Jan 31, 2020
Photo of stevoj
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho

3.93/5  rDev -8.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Cask pour at MTHB. Cloudy, medium amber with cap of thick creamy head. Aroma is light hops with some fruity overtones. Taste adds a layer of hops to the bready malt base, subtle. Cask brings a nice creaminess to the brew, but hard to believe this is a Top 50. Not impressed.
Nov 05, 2019
 
Rated: 4.06 by wisegreensoul from Idaho

Aug 08, 2019
Photo of metter98
Reviewed by metter98 from New York

4.29/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Cask at Town Hall Brewery, Minneapolis, MN

A: The beer is crystal clear amber yellow in color and lacks visible carbonation. It kind of looked like a beer on nitro when the waiter brought it to the table with the yellowish and amber colors settling down and mixing together. It poured with a finger high white head that this excellent properties and consistently left a quarter finger high head covering the surface.
S: Light to moderate aromas of citrusy hops are present in the nose along with notes of floral hops.
T: The taste follows the smell and has flavors of citrusy hops - orange and grapefruit stand out in particular - along with notes of floral hops and hints of herbs. There is a light amount of bitterness.
M: It feels very smooth and creamy on the mouthfeel and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: I;'m really glad that I had this beer from a cask as it was a pleasure to drink, especially with the smooth and creamy mouthfeel.

Serving type: cask
Aug 04, 2019
 
Rated: 4.11 by smithj4 from New York

Aug 04, 2019
 
Rated: 3.99 by dbrauneis from North Carolina

Aug 04, 2019
Masala Mama from Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery
Beer rating: 96 out of 100 with 1411 ratings