IPA Reserve
Greene King / Morland Brewery

IPA ReserveIPA Reserve
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From:
Greene King / Morland Brewery
 
England, United Kingdom
Style:
English IPA
Ranked #53
ABV:
5.4%
Score:
85
Ranked #21,813
Avg:
3.69 | pDev: 11.92%
Reviews:
13
Ratings:
23
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jan 29, 2023
Added:
Nov 01, 2012
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  5
Greene King IPA Reserve is a warming, full-bodied ale with a reassuringly rich appearance. Grapefruit and Orange citrus tones combine with the floral and herbal Styrian Goldings hop variety delivering a beer of exceptional quality with dry bitter finish.
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Photo of JonnoWillsteed
Reviewed by JonnoWillsteed from England

3.36/5  rDev -8.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
L- Mid chestnut, clear, with a 7-10mm just off-white foam lid.
S- Mild, I just get a touch of malt.
T- Quite bright and zingy on the tongue, into a hoppy dry aspect that lingers into the finish. All of that
Jan 29, 2023
 
Rated: 3.75 by paulish from New York

Oct 04, 2021
Photo of James94
Reviewed by James94 from England

3.96/5  rDev +7.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
L: Dark chestnut reddish brown, lacing and head retains
S: Spices, oak, wood, vanilla, dark fruit, some skunkiness
T: Caramel, herbs, biscuit, woodiness, chocolate
F: Smooth, light carbonation, hints of alcohol

O: 4
Aug 03, 2021
Photo of Sigmund
Reviewed by Sigmund from Norway

3.38/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
500 ml clear bottle, from a cornershop in London.ABV is 5.4%. Deep golden to amber colour, large white (or slightly off-white) head. Strong Heineken-like aroma of lightstruck hops, not unpleasant though. Also notes of nuts, toffee and caramel. Drunk too cold. The flavour is a bit on the sweet side, with nutty notes, some lightly roasted malts, and a little caramel.
Apr 22, 2021
Photo of monkist
Reviewed by monkist from Hungary

4.96/5  rDev +34.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
A very good English IPA! Or should I say, an English IPA that proves that not only American IPAs can be great!
I am a die-hard fan of American IPAs and have always felt that their English counterparts lacked something no matter how good they might have been.
Then came this IPA Reserve. A fruity, fruity, amazingly fruity IPA from the Old World!
The greatness lies in the fact that it is a classic IPA made with classic hops, perhaps the great Saaz (so familiar the taste, yes, this must surely be Saaz! - which turns out to be Styrian Goldings actually...), but the way and the quantity they have used them in is what is really amazing. Fresh and fruity and extremely hoppy. Never could have ever imagined that hops from the Old Continent could be so great!
Yes, there is some yeast in the back, but still very subtle and it is just to enhance the play of the hops in the foreground. Body is characterized by caramel malts - I would like to pay more attention to the malts but the hops are in my face, the hops, the hops even they are not American hops, they are amazing! Dry hopped with European hops? Perhaps. Hopped in crazy amounts? Definitely. The end result is a hops-all-over-your-head five star IPA that proves that the Old World can also do something remarkable if they really want. As the ingredients are given. The mastery of the brewer and his creativity is what does the trick.
Hats off.
Aug 17, 2017
 
Rated: 3.81 by steverx8 from England

Jun 18, 2017
Photo of Dentist666
Reviewed by Dentist666 from Russian Federation

3.8/5  rDev +3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75
English strong ale.
Poured into pint.
Pours clear orange beer with 2-finger off-white head, moderate to low retention.
Smell - citrus, marmalade, herbal hops.
Taste - english malts, caramel, fruity notes, pleasant grassy hops in the finish.
Medium and smooth body, silky carbonation.
Very good and balanced, just don't value it as IPA.
Mar 27, 2016
Photo of Mark13
Reviewed by Mark13 from Poland

3.37/5  rDev -8.7%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.25
Aroma of East Kent Golding hop, caramel, malt and little alcohol. Dark red coloured beer, clear. Tan coloured, one fingered head, fast reduces to very flat. No lacing. In taste caramel, bread, toffee, little roasty and herbal from hop. In palate bites of alcohol in throat with tea and tobacco aftertaste. Bitterness is too low, but it's nice. Carbonation little too high. It’s not a bad beer, neither very good. Definetely too much sensible alcohol.
Aug 26, 2015
Photo of psm90
Reviewed by psm90 from England

4.5/5  rDev +22%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Great toffee, creamy and honey malts, very warming - and they very smoothly merge into excellent hop bitterness, with a piney finish. Not really an IPA but a fantastic beer.
Apr 15, 2015
Photo of EmperorBevis
Reviewed by EmperorBevis from England

3.25/5  rDev -11.9%
So at 5.4% this might have a chance, even with the clear bottle.
The aroma is the big let down
UK brewers don't get aromatic, it smells like ripe armpits.
The taste, there is some some berry, some bitterness
but not anybodies IPA sorry.

This is just better than NO beer
but to be brutally honest the stronger & premium GK beers
it's where the basic, budget standard should be
Dec 10, 2014
 
Rated: 3.44 by Jenno10 from England

Nov 29, 2014
 
Rated: 3.68 by mcdaddyo21 from Ireland

Aug 14, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by beerinabottle from Ireland

Aug 05, 2014
Photo of jazzyjeff13
Reviewed by jazzyjeff13 from England

3.44/5  rDev -6.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
A 500ml clear glass bottle with a BB of Nov 2014. Acquired a while back from a supermarket. The blurb on the label claims orange and grapefruit notes.

Poured into a tulip pint glass. A bright coppery-amber hue with medium carbonation. Yields a large head of creamy off-white foam that lasts for a few minutes before settling as a patchy surface layer. Aroma of caramel malt with hints of fruity ale yeast, grass/hay, faint floral notes and stewed hops. A distinct Greene King character but decent enough.

Tastes of caramel malt with a subtle fruitiness and a dry, bitter finish. Notes of caramel, a twinge of roasted grain, fruity ale yeast, grass/hay, faint floral hints, subtle earthiness and stewed hops. A whisper of malty sweetness in the background, followed by a leafy bitterness upon swallowing. Mouthfeel is smooth and tingly, with decent carbonation and satisfactory body. Could be a shade thicker. Slightly astringent, accompanied by an aftertaste of fruity ale yeast, stewed hops and mild caramel.

A pretty decent ale, though not much of an IPA. Looks alright, while the aroma is balanced but unexciting. The flavour has a bit more character; a good blend of malt and bitterness. Body is OK. I guess this is no surprise from GK, but the hop character isn't really sufficient for a true IPA. Otherwise, this goes down easily enough and I'd pick it up again for the right price. Worth sampling if you come across it.
May 08, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by Mr_Pink_152 from England

Jan 03, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by hansavijaticar from Croatia (Hrvatska)

Sep 03, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by vinicole from England

Jul 26, 2013
Photo of BlackHaddock
Reviewed by BlackHaddock from England

3.85/5  rDev +4.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Equidistance between New York and Fort Lauderdale in Stateroom 6187 of Queen Victoria: 20 Jan 2013.

The clear 500ml bottle (BBD Jan 2014) was poured into a tumbler twice and the amber beer produced a full and deep biege head each time it left the bottle.

Floral hop nose with a semi-sweetened pink grapefruit taste, the beer finished bitter and dry although there was a malty feel the more the beer warmed in the mouth. Different and tasty with enough alcohol content to make the brew interesting
Apr 13, 2013
Photo of wl0307
Reviewed by wl0307 from England

3.08/5  rDev -16.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Coming in a 500ml slim clear bottle, BB FEB 2014, served cool in a straight imperial pint glass.

A: pours a bright dark copper colour, coming with sporadic carbonation and a fast retreating layer of thin off-white foam.
S: upon opening the bottle, upfront comes a lightly skunky note as of the light struck effect, but not too much; sweet grassy notes, sweetened light flavoured toasted tea, raisins, caramelised sugar coated apples, sweet citrus and more caramel feature on the nose; notes of melted rock sugar and Styrian Golding’s spicy herbal fragrance form a solid backbone.
T: quite spritzy on the palate, the foretaste is full of bitter-sweet cold barley tea, again, then ensued by sour-sweet citric fruity and sweet herbal flavour of hops, more crystal malts, a touch of boiled yum-like sweetness and prune-ish sourness into the aftertaste, where a fine touch of gristy crystal/caramel malts also lingers in the form of aroma. The sour-sweet maltiness plus the subtly spicy hop profile is more or less the same as Abbot Ale, in my opinion. The hop bitterness is not actually enough to render this beer an IPA, nor is the hop flavour throughout.
M&O: spritzy at first but going smoother as the drink goes, the body remains medium and the palate is always a bit thin (not to the point of being watery, but not far off) as far as 5.4%abv. is concerned. No offence but this IPA Reserve does not stand up to the requirement for this style, just like many Greene King products where fine malts and yeastiness work better as a better pair in the whole team of ingredients. Average drinkability on this bottle, perhaps it’s better on cask, should it be made available.
Mar 31, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by Beerstorian from District of Columbia

Feb 17, 2013
IPA Reserve from Greene King / Morland Brewery
Beer rating: 85 out of 100 with 23 ratings