Professor Gesser's Mind Numbing Ale
Bluegrass Brewing Co. - East St. Matthew's

Professor Gesser's Mind Numbing AleProfessor Gesser's Mind Numbing Ale
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From:
Bluegrass Brewing Co. - East St. Matthew's
 
Kentucky, United States
Style:
American IPA
ABV:
7.2%
Score:
83
Avg:
3.64 | pDev: 18.68%
Reviews:
38
Ratings:
45
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Oct 28, 2014
Added:
Mar 20, 2005
Wants:
  6
Gots:
  0
BBC's version of an India Ale Ale, named as such because of its popularity with British Troops in colonial India. The beer’s alcoholic strength and high hopping rates (hops also act as a preservative) helped it withstand the long ocean voyage from England. Brewed with lots of pale ale malt and caramelized wheat and barley, we then add large quantitites of American Columbus, Simcoe and Cascade hops. Then we allow the hot wort to run through a bed of raw hops (known as the hopback) prior to fermentation. This process adds a burst of hop aroma and flavor. Big, bold and bitter, just like Jeff Gesser.

72 IBU
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
 
Rated: 4.04 by ADKbeerguy from New York

Oct 28, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by Washuffizi98 from Tennessee

Sep 15, 2014
Photo of mrfrancis
Reviewed by mrfrancis from Kentucky

3.88/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A: Pours a clear, ruddy amber with a thick, creamy off-white head. Lacing is fairly thick.

S: Mild, muted aromas of lemon, lime, bitter orange, biscuit, herbs, caramel, and pine take some time to reveal themselves on the nose.

T: Notes of lemon, lime, herbs, bitter orange, kumquat, biscuit, crackers, toffee, caramel, pine, and spruce fill the mouth. The finish combines lemon, lime, pine, spruce, and caramel flavors to great effect.

M: Medium-bodied and dry for the style. Carbonation is active and firm. Alcohol is undetectable.

O: A nice, somewhat underrated IPA. The nose is a bit uninspiring, but this is still a good beer. I could see this being a solid introductory brew for someone new to hoppier ales or a respectable go-to when better known IPAs are not available.
Mar 06, 2014
 
Rated: 2.5 by chinchill from South Carolina

Aug 19, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by 67couple from South Carolina

Jun 04, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by ADTaber from South Carolina

May 14, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by Mullinger1980 from Ohio

May 11, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by Coduhhh from Kentucky

May 10, 2013
Photo of twiggamortis420
Reviewed by twiggamortis420 from Texas

3.53/5  rDev -3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
750 mL courtesy of kirok1999...pours a hazed, very dark copper color. Interesting beer, darker than many an amber ale! Fine bubbled and retention is good.

Nose is very much dark fruit and burnt toffee. Hops are resinous and piney on the nostrils.

Taste is very caramely, burnt toffee and takes the east coast IPA style to the extreme. Resinous hop bitterness lends a fluffed up aspect I dont really like too much. Its fairly smooth, but not really my style that I prefer in an IPA.
Oct 18, 2011
Photo of mikesgroove
Reviewed by mikesgroove from South Carolina

4.08/5  rDev +12.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
amber, nice orange hue to it. Lots of visible carbonation streaming up from the bottom of the glass. Upon pour a nice, two inch plus head of off white, tannish colored foam formed on top of the glass and had a very good retention to it.

Aroma was intresting, definite hop tones dominating from the start, notes of citrus as well as a piney sort of smell were both very evident from the beginning. However, there was more to it then that, in fact there was a nice malted back that made up the bulk of the aroma once it started to warm. Great first assault of piney like hops. Not extremely bitter, but rather mellow and smooth and just enough to get the ball rolling. A tremdous amount of malt then becomes apparent. Great earthen tones again, Nice sweetness, some light candy like sweetness, but primarily a dark, balancing sweetness to it. Great dry finish, lots of hops in the finish, with a somewhat lingering citrus like tone to it. Very well rounded and big. This was definatly a good one
Sep 25, 2011
Photo of SolomonGrundy
Reviewed by SolomonGrundy from California

3.94/5  rDev +8.2%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
(edit) This can't be the same beer I'm reading in the other reviews, even though the label is near identical with just a slight name change. This beer isn't even CLOSE to thin like has been described. Not sure if I have a beer that's not logged in yet to BA or not...I'll leave it here. It's labeled as "India Pale Ale" with no mention of "mind numbing" anywhere...

I guess this is also called the "mind numbing ale"...I'm starting to hate breweries that do this: take the same beer and re-name it.

In any event: thanks to most awesome trader Brian44556 for this nice tall bottle. Cheers, mate!

Pours a divine orange-red-amber. By divine I mean, thrrough some trick of the light/sediment/brewing, this beer has the effect of creating a halo like refraction of light through the glass. It's really cool. Head that adorns this is creamy, tall and leaves excellent lacing. Heavily carbonated from the bottle conditiong. Looks fantastic. Aromas are awesome. I get some tropical fruit - pineapple and mango. A slightly soapy smell, like ones of those super-fruity liquid hand soaps. Also bubblegum. Some hints of hop extract or, absent that, dry hopping in there also. Somewhat robust at first, but they mellow out. Very nice so far.

Flavor is very much like the aroma. A sharp bubblegum-hop components reaches right out and grabs your ass. This is countered by a swift smack across the face of the carbonation that makes for a nice, creamy mouthfeel. Super-creamy feel, actually. This creaminess is long and carries through the whole drink. There are some very sweet malt characteristics that come through in the middle/late middle. Mr. hops returns with his wandering hands in the finish which is long and bitter in a good way. This is really a great beer. Only drawback is the soap-like component that kind of flits about here and there in the brew. Very nice effort. ABV is around 7% I reckon...

What I like most: The beautiful, deific appearance.

What I like least: The soapy flavor and aroma characteristic that hangs around.

Very good beer and a nice East Coast beer.
Feb 20, 2011
Photo of Reaper16
Reviewed by Reaper16 from Alabama

2.28/5  rDev -37.4%
look: 2 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5
750mL bottle served into a pint glass.

Pours murky, septic shade of brown. Ugly body. half a finger of tan head with adequate lacing. Tons of sediment all throughout the body, even on a careful pour. This does not look like something you'd want to drink.

More malty than hoppy. Apart from a distant floral astringency there are not any hops on the nose of this "IPA." Stale brown malts smelling mostly of breadcrust make up the vast majority of the beer's aroma. Terrible for the style, just terrible.

The taste follows the nose, only majorly improved. It is still more malty than hoppy. Some ashy, leafy dead flowers make up the hop flavors, while the malts are vaguely nutty and toasty. It sort of tastes like Diet Barleywine. Littlefoot, if you will.

The body seems pretty thin on the tongue. It is around medium bodied for the style, it's just that the lack of hops makes me think the beer would have been thicker than it is. I am glad that it isn't. Drinkability? Terrible. I would rather drainpour this than have another glass. But I guess that if you can appreciate it as a Diet Barleywine than you might be able to stomach the whole bottle. It isn't offensive nearly as much as it is boring.

Mind Numbing Ale? I suppose so; my mind is numb trying to figure out how this beer got onto the market labeled as an IPA. This is an affordable bottle but don't even waste your time with it.
Aug 11, 2010
Photo of RomaniIteDomum
Reviewed by RomaniIteDomum from Florida

3.83/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Thanks to BEERchitect for this one.

Pours a very attractive dark amber color with a nice foamy head. This is a nice looking beer.

Smells quite surprisingly malty with a bit of a hoppy finish.

The taste is also quite sweet and malty. There is also a nice spiciness in the finish. Interesting.

Honestly, this beer is a little thin. It works well for the beer, I guess.

Aside from the light mouthfeel this one is quite good and pretty damn drinkable.
Jun 03, 2010
Photo of Onenote81
Reviewed by Onenote81 from North Carolina

2.19/5  rDev -39.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2
Bottle received from bamadog in a recent trade. Thanks for the beer!

Poured into my pint glass. Pours a very cloudy dark copper with a thick beige head on top. Decent retention. Left some pretty sip rings on the glass. That was the best part of the beer. Scents of toffee, bread, and earth. Not what I would expect from an IPA. Hmm.

Decent body on this beer. Nice mellow smoothness with a touch of carbonation play on the tongue. Flavor is weird. Dull earthy bitterness, caramel, and a slight tart funkiness on the finish. This is strange. Not sure what I think of this beer. It's interesting, to say the least. I wouldn't go out of my way to grab this one again. Too bad, I liked the other BBC brews I've had.
Dec 21, 2009
Photo of barleywinefiend
Reviewed by barleywinefiend from Washington

3.08/5  rDev -15.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5
Poured a deep orange color with good carbonation and a big head. Nose is floral, malty but faint and even some grain. Taste is pretty average, not much hops here and some caramel malt but pretty average and not much going on. A little light on mouthfeel and drinkability is low.
Nov 05, 2009
Photo of klewis
Reviewed by klewis from Ohio

2.12/5  rDev -41.8%
look: 2 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 2
A: Pours a hazy copper with barely a head. No lacing.

S: A light smell of toffee and hops with a bit of bathroom funk.

T: A light taste of caramel but very little flavor over all. Hop flavor is non-existent. Astringent hop bitterness wallops you over the head in the finish. This one is a mess.

M: Medium-bodied with light-moderate carbonation.

D: At $6 for a 750ml, I wasn't expecting much, but this one still disappointed. I'll pass next time.
Mar 08, 2009
Photo of hopdog
Reviewed by hopdog from Pennsylvania

3.08/5  rDev -15.4%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
750ml bottle shared courtesy of weeare138. Looking at the bottle before opening, it wasn't filled very high (foil wrapped top and appeared to have no leakage at all).

Loug audible pop as it was opened. Poured a deep and hazy amber color with a large sized off white head. Aromas of pine, oranges, caramel and vegetables (yucky). Tastes of pine, oranges, caramel, and a little grassy. Home brew looking label (when Mike brought it out, I thought it was one of his home brews although most of his labels are better than this one!).

Notes from 6/2/06
Dec 17, 2008
Photo of ckeegan04
Reviewed by ckeegan04 from Texas

2.98/5  rDev -18.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.5
A - Reddish orange color with a gargantuan head. Big time foamer here. Ended up with 1/2 beer 1/2 foam after a very gentle pour. Head slowly recedes and leaves light lacing.

S - Somewhat earthy and medicinal aroma with underlying citrus notes. Very unique aroma. A light toasted bread underneath,

T - Bready and caramel sweetness up front. Then a somewhat sour flavor comes through along with a very earthy hop taste. The sourness has hints of grapes and cherries. Very weird flavor combos. Not bad, just not good.

M/D - Medium bodied and rather smooth and creamy. The flavor brings down the drinkability a notch or two.

After two of the BBC big IPA's I can safely say I dont have the need to go back. This beer and Homewrecker DIPA were both very disapointing. I'll stick with their dependable 12oz offerings in the future.
Dec 13, 2008
Photo of Dogbrick
Reviewed by Dogbrick from Ohio

3.5/5  rDev -3.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Bottle from ABC in Ashland, KY. This beer is a mostly clear orange-amber color with a medium and fluffly light beige head that diminishes slowly. Thin rings of lacing on the glass. Mildly citric hops aroma with notes of grass. Medium-bodied and moderately hoppy at first with an underlying toasted malt character. Notes of sweet caramel and toffee become increasingly assertive throughout. The finish is mostly sweet malt with a lingering mild hops. Overall this IPA is lacking cohesiveness, it could definitely be better.
Sep 25, 2008
Photo of zeff80
Reviewed by zeff80 from Missouri

3.97/5  rDev +9.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A - Poured out a cloudy, copper color with a small, white, bubbly head. It left lace.

S - It smelled of grapefruit and floral notes. Also, a toasted malt aroma.

T - It tasted of toffee and sweet caramel malt. It had a nice sharp kick of grapefruit flavor.

M - It was crisp, sharp and smooth. A medium-bodied beer.

D - This is a pretty interesting IPA. It is certainy a malt-forward IPA.
Sep 08, 2008
Professor Gesser's Mind Numbing Ale from Bluegrass Brewing Co. - East St. Matthew's
Beer rating: 83 out of 100 with 45 ratings