IPA - Tailgate Beer

jimmah120

Minnesota

2.56/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

12oz can with no date. $6 for a 6-pack. drank mostly out of the can

look is great when poured, typical ipa color, cloudy, retention/lacing ok i guess...? smell is muddled and sweet, very odd and adjunct-y. taste is better, but still sweet and with an odd malt liquor flavor. feel is OK

bad IPA, and just not a good beer

Serving type: can

06-16-2013 22:45:11 | More by jimmah120

onix1agr

Pennsylvania

2.25/5  rDev -3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

'The official beer of tailgating' as stated on the CAN. My CAN says this is brewed in Wisconsin, so take that for what it's worth. 12oz into a glass.

Tailgating beer certainly looks the part of an IPA, a nice mix of burnt orange and some light bronze shade within. A good inch of firm foam pops up and becomes a cap of off white bubbles with good retention. Smell is very pale malt forward and has just a hint of hop scent, dare I call this a lager. Very caramel forward and not in a good way. Taste reminds me of a decent lager with a fuller body. The body is a step below medium and has some spritzy carb down the gullet. No bitterness to speak of, this just made it onto shelves, so I guess it's fresh. Judging from the scent, I don't think this was ever in IPA territory to begin with. A terrible finish, makes me cringe, traces of metal, not a good look.

Serving type: can

12-04-2012 01:06:32 | More by onix1agr

woodychandler

Pennsylvania

3.48/5  rDev +48.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Transcribed from notes dtd Sa, 01 Dec 2012 (yesterday):

It was a banner day for The CANQuest (TM) as I visited Percy Street Barbecue on South Street in Philly! They claim to have the largest selection of craft CANs in the country and I would find that hard to dispute, especially given that I found three new ones myself.

From the CAN: "Award Winning Craft Brew!"; "Session-Style India Pale Ale"; "The Cuban Missile Crisis, the Space Race, Baseball's Homerun Race of '98. Let's face it. Americans are no stranger to an arms race. Enter, craft beer, Breweries everywhere are are dumping hops in by the pound, abandoning moderation, leaving dedicated hophead tailgaters with few options for responsible drinking, We bring you the session-style India Pale Ale. Session-Style means moderate alcohol content. This is your chance to enjoy a full flavor, aggressively hopped IPA - without melting your face off. Handcrafted with Cascade and Magnum hops, this IPA is influenced by IPA City, USA (San Diego) and perfected for tailgaters around the world. rab this bouquet of liquid hopped glory and enjoy full flavored drinking, not sipping."; "The Official Beer of Tailgating (TM)".

Once more, the Crack and even the Glug were out of my hands! This is why I prefer to review my CANQuest (TM) beers at home. We were faced with a finger of tawny head with decent retention. Color was a slightly hazy amber. Nose was softly hoppy, kind of like taking fresh hops in my hands, rubbing them together and inhaling. Very flowery, kind of grassy, definitely a mellow scent. Mouthfeel was medium and the taste was a mellow hop flavor, along the lines of an English IPA. That is not to suggest that it was terribly malty, either, just that it had a more muted hops profile than usual for this hophead. Finish was like my humor: dry and bitter. Let's go tailgating!

Serving type: can

12-02-2012 22:10:11 | More by woodychandler

Nugganooch

California

2.45/5  rDev +4.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Fatty Tallboy (24oz) with a standard pint
11/16/12

A: Tailgate IPA pours a light coppery straw gold with great clarity. Streaming bubbles produce a big rocky crème foam that stays for a good length of time leaving behind thick chunky webs of cling.

S: Smells of old crusty bread and stale hops. Grainy pale malts are at the forefront which is not what I was expecting from an “aggressively hopped” IPA. Hardly any aroma hops here. What is present is a light floral mix of pine and dried citrus accompanied with an old vegetal quality.

T: Tastes of faint pine and orange citrus with a grainy bread malt profile. A bit grassy and vegetal. Malts seem German in style like a Kolsch or possibly even adjuncts are used here as some Lagers and Cream Ales do. Hops are stale and muted with a lower level of perceived bitterness. Real bready with some floral spice to it. No alcohol detectable. Has an odd twist of some vanilla and clovey phenols towards the end. This is not great by any means.

M: Feel is light and watery at times. There is no hoppy resinous linger and the finish has some crisp carbonation but remains somewhat wet.

D: Pedestrian Pale Ale. This comes off as a glorified BMC product and I could see it appealing to those fans. Really is almost Adjunct Lager like. I would say only slightly better. Definitely drinkable with a 5% ABV but I guessI was expecting something a bit tastier from a package that touts Hoppiness. Should have set the expectation bar lower given the cheap price on this one. My scores seem generous here.

Serving type: can

11-19-2012 18:41:26 | More by Nugganooch

tronester

Oklahoma

2.13/5  rDev -9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Saw this in the liquor store for less than 2 dollars for a 24 ounce can. These days thats a really good price for an IPA! Lets hope its worth it!

Pours a clear golden orange, with a creamy white head. Smells decent, with some candied fruits, and a hint of pine. Taste begins with a nasty amplified macro lager sickly sweetness. The last time I remember this flavor was when I drank a horrible can of steel reserve. Then some dirty metal coin suck flavor, then a bit of lawn mowed grass flavor, and finally some sort of wierd bitter chemical flavor. The aftertaste isnt too bad though, mostly some pine.

Mouthfeel is good for the gravity. Overall this is one bad IPA. I should have known better for the price what I was getting in to. I will say i'd take this over a light lager, but just barely. It's easy to homebrew a better IPA or Pale Ale than this, I can't believe a commercial brewery could brew an IPA so poorly. Even for the cheap price it's not worth it, as you can usually get a more inexpensive craft for only 10-20% more money.

Serving type: can

11-18-2012 00:01:16 | More by tronester

VelvetExtract

Massachusetts

1.58/5  rDev -32.5%
look: 4 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 1

A-Pours a hazy scorched orange. Huge, voluminous head. Bubbles rise frm the base of the beer to feed the foamy afro. Thick, sporadic lacing blotches.

S-Grimace inducing. Sweet and soapy. Honey and...soap. Oh yeah! There is also an abundance of...honey and soap.

T-Holy horseshit Batman! This is one of the worst beers I have ever slurped! Venom! Metal and sickening sweetness with a hint of remedial hops. Like sucking on a penny covered in that frightening green rust. The fact that I bought a six-pack of this makes me want to assault someone. Asswater.

M-I hate you Tailgate. Sticky and clingy.

O/D-In contention for the title of the prestigous "Worst of the Worst" award. Absolutely insulting. Quite easily the worst beer I have had yet. At least the plethora of bad Macro brews aren't pretending to be craft beers. In terms of this beer: IPA = Imbibing Pungent Asswater.

Serving type: can

10-27-2012 02:50:21 | More by VelvetExtract

BucannonXC5

California

2.13/5  rDev -9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

24-oz. can into a pint glass at my house on Oct. 13, 2012 (purchased at Village Square Liquor & Kegs in San Diego for $1.99 on Oct. 13, 2012). Honey amber with two fingers of white head. Average retention on the sides and on the top.

Smelled honey, caramel, heavy malts, syrup and light citrus (nectarine) hops.

Tasted honey, syrup and malts up front, giving way to a nasty finish of sharp alcohol, slight citrus (orangeish/tangerine) hops and bitter finish.

Medium-to-light body. Thin texture. Average carbonation. Bitter syrupy finish.

Just a bad beer all-around, save for the cheap price. I would never have this again on purpose. I feel sorry for someone who tries this beer as their first IPA.

Serving type: can

10-14-2012 07:52:07 | More by BucannonXC5

mactrail

California

2.35/5  rDev +0.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Big foam in the tall Peroni glass. Yellow amber in color. Average beery sort of smell.

The first sip is a surprise, as it tastes a whole lot like Mickey's Malt Liquor or something in that vein. How do they get such a sweet taste? I suppose it's corn, and plenty of it. Anyone expecting hoppy flavor or aroma will be mystified. But just as you are squinting at the fine print on the label, there is a wave of a rather nasty aspirin-like bitterness, very subtle but unmistakeable.

"Handcrafted with Cascade and Magnum hops, " says the label. As you can see from the illustration, there are three hop cones in Hot Wheels truck, and I truly believe they used all three of them in this batch. Plus the aspirin, of course.

Contract brewed by Minhas Craft Brewery, which is why it says Monroe, Wisconsin on the can. From the can purchased at Baron's Market on W. Point Loma Blvd. $1.99 for the princely 24-oz can. Maybe this will provide some nutrients for the house plants.

Serving type: can

09-05-2012 04:45:06 | More by mactrail

Knapp85

Pennsylvania

1.58/5  rDev -32.5%
look: 2 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 1.5

Ordered a glass of this thinking that it would be decent since it's a California IPA. Upon getting the glass I was taken by surprise by the lack of everything this beer didn't have. The color is a mussy looking gold color with the thinnest white head on top I've ever seen. The retention and lacing are non-existent. The smell of the beer doesn't give off much hop aroma at all... I'm confused as to how this is an IPA. The taste is malty, but not hoppy at all. It tasted muddy and far too earthy. The mouthfeel was bland, nothing to make it pop at all, little carbonation, no bitterness in the finish. Overall this was a major disappointment. I've had "sessionable" IPA's before and they are nice to have, this beer was not. I hate giving bad reviews but this one was probably one of the worst beers I've had in a while. This actually gives me very little interest to try anymore of the Tailgate offerings.

Serving type: on-tap

08-31-2012 02:09:28 | More by Knapp85

HalfFull

California

2.08/5  rDev -11.1%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Can poured into a pint glass. Clear and golden in color, metzah.

Smells like the Hefeweizen.

Tastes like the Hefeweizen.

Wow, no bitterness and no hops.

This 'sesssionable' IPA offfers just a slight hint of bitterness but mostly a critric close. So I guess there is a bit of hops in there.

Serving type: bottle

06-08-2012 05:41:07 | More by HalfFull