Horseneck Golden IPA - Buzzards Bay Brewing

tigg924

Massachusetts

3.15/5  rDev -14.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Had on tap at the Pour Farm in New Bedford

Appearance: 1/2 inch head, moderate carbonation, gold in color, clear

Smell: pine hops and light citrus

Taste: wheat, grass, biscuit, citrus hops, and pine hops

Mouthfeel: sweet start with a bitter middle and a less bitter end, medium carbonation, light bodied

Overall: An average to slightly above average IPA. I could get this one again or just as well pass. Not bad, just does not stick out much.

Serving type: on-tap

12-20-2012 16:04:52 | More by tigg924

carndog

Massachusetts

5/5  rDev +35.5%

05-26-2013 00:32:57 | More by carndog

Zaphog

Michigan

3.5/5  rDev -5.1%

05-17-2013 04:09:58 | More by Zaphog

shand

Florida

4.18/5  rDev +13.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Here's an interesting one for my neck of the woods. Not sure how these made it to Florida, but seems like it'll be worth a shot. Horseneck Goldenipa pours out a slightly hazy golden color with a smaller head. The aroma is nice, it's got a delicate floral and fruity hop thing going on that carries over to the taste, which provides a pretty pure hop flavor experience without smacking you in the face. All I get are the nice floral, citrus, and light fruit aspects from the hops used in this beer, and then nothing. The mouthfeel is light and moderately carbonated, and the drinkability is exceptional. Overall, Horseneck is an interestingly delicate IPA experience.

Serving type: bottle

03-29-2013 03:01:18 | More by shand

BuddyE

Louisiana

3/5  rDev -18.7%

03-26-2013 03:41:59 | More by BuddyE

johnh7

New York

4/5  rDev +8.4%

03-09-2013 13:57:47 | More by johnh7

Bnoise11

California

3.25/5  rDev -11.9%

01-28-2013 16:56:59 | More by Bnoise11

Ernest78

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +8.4%

01-24-2013 23:08:14 | More by Ernest78

Archemedies

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev +1.6%

01-09-2013 05:07:05 | More by Archemedies

plaid75

New York

3.68/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured a light pale copper hue with a two finger frothy white head. There was very good retention and good lacing.

The smell featured doughy malts, honey and a flowery hop.

The taste consisted of round pale malts coupled with a slightly spirited floral hop. Residual soft honey and herbal leafiness detected as well.

The mouthfeel was clean with a vigorous carbonation.

Overall a well balanced, easy drinking ale.

Serving type: bottle

11-07-2012 01:37:56 | More by plaid75

abraxel

Michigan

3.98/5  rDev +7.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Reviewed blind as part of Blind BIF 7, courtesy of ShogoKawada.

A - I think I made a good choice on the glassware; a ton of dense, snowy head blossoms up and lingers, leaving bunches of lacing down the side. The beer is a mostly clear, happy, golden color, with a constant stream of carbonation off the etching in the bottom.

S - Slightly sweet, grainy malt, yeasty esters, and maybe some floral hops? I'm not sure about the hops, maybe there's something else. Regardless, it smells good.

T - A sweet orangey flavor blends in with the grainy malt, and there's a pleasant level of bitterness that lingers a while (is that pith or hops?).

M - Medium mouthfeel. There was lots of carbonation to begin with, but it's all gone now. It leaves that pithy bitterness all over my mouth, but it's not super strong or annoying.

Overall, I'm enjoying this quite a bit. I feel somewhat certain (though I might be totally wrong) it's brewed with a sweet-ish citrus fruit (oranges?).

Non-blind thoughts:
Damn, no fruit? I guess it was just juicy, juicy hops this whole time. Even now, I know there's not fruit in here, but I still taste it! Weird. I enjoyed (and am still enjoying!) it quite a bit.

Serving type: bottle

10-26-2012 00:28:13 | More by abraxel

kindbill

Rhode Island

3.75/5  rDev +1.6%

09-15-2012 00:13:46 | More by kindbill

jzeilinger

Pennsylvania

3.53/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A - Pours a hazy golden orange color, a thick one fingered layer of white foam, and some carbonation.

S - Crisp and crackery malt, faint pine, citrus, and lemons.

T - Nips the tongue up front with a crisp caramel malt which quickly gets buried by a healthy wave of pine and grapefruit bittering.

M - Medium body, moderate carbonation on the tongue to make it prickly.

O - One dimensional with nice bitterness. This is a brewery I've never heard of before and I hope things take off for them. Was thrilled to find something new and different.

Serving type: bottle

08-29-2012 23:54:31 | More by jzeilinger

cashmier

New York

3.75/5  rDev +1.6%

08-19-2012 01:19:27 | More by cashmier

Hopdaemon39

Massachusetts

3.9/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 22 oz bottle into a nonic tumbler- pours a slightly hazy golden straw color with a two finger head, good retention, decent wash of lacing.

Smells of pale malt and mild pine hops- definitely get some barely in there, maybe a touch of wheat (they do say this is a golden ipa...).

Tastes nice but nothing spectacular- citrus and pine hop notes up front leaning towards the pine, followed by a hint of malt sweetness, finishing up pretty dry with the pine hops.

Mouthfeel is nice and refreshing- light body, moderate carbonation, a little hop resin. Wouldn't choose it again. But it's not bad!

Serving type: bottle

07-06-2012 23:53:48 | More by Hopdaemon39

Massbmx

Massachusetts

3/5  rDev -18.7%

02-29-2012 01:38:25 | More by Massbmx

YouSkeete

Massachusetts

4.35/5  rDev +17.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A: Mildly cloudy, gold with a tone of orangey amber. Fluffy, bubbly white head with decent retention.

S: Very floral and earthy. Fresh hops, Citrus, grapefruit, lemon zest, creamy malts. Hints of caramel and honey.

T/M: Smooth citrus and caramel malts, sweet and mildly bitter hops compose the initial flavor. Honey-like sweetness and sugared fruits follow through. Hop flavor lingers well through the taste. Medium bodied, moderately carbonated. Lemony, malty, rich aftertaste.

D: My girlfriends parents get cases of these bombers. Really awesome; quality brew.

Serving type: bottle

12-19-2011 02:37:46 | More by YouSkeete

WSB

Massachusetts

2.38/5  rDev -35.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

This beer pours deep golden orange, with a nice 2 fingers of off white head which quickly dissolved into an oily sheen.

Aroma is mildly hoppy, with what I can only describe as minerally, citrus like hints.

Mouthfeel is very carbonated, moderate body.

Taste is hop bitter without a ton of flavor. There is a mineral like aftertaste, and a very bitter, distinctly grapefruit finish.

Overall this beer looks great, smells about average, and tastes about average for a craft IPA. It really needs something to counterbalance the minerally aftertaste and bitterness. Bitterness can be a great component of the craft beer drinking experience, if there is taste with it.

Serving type: bottle

10-17-2011 00:26:10 | More by WSB

JoeyBeerBelly

New York

3.5/5  rDev -5.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

I got this beer from tzieser. Thanks Tom!

22oz bottle served in a standard pint glass.

L - hazed orange/yellow color with a white head that thinned to a ring.

S - sweet floral aroma.

T - some sweetness upfront with citrus rind bitterness taking over things right until the finish.

F - medium bodied with mild carbonation.

O - the bottle I had wasn't fresh but it was still a decent beer.

Serving type: bottle

09-23-2011 23:38:41 | More by JoeyBeerBelly

jlindros

Massachusetts

3.8/5  rDev +3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a light fizzy head, clear golden orange wheat color.

Nose has golden malts, toasted malts, a slight oxidized and aged faded hop aroma, but light grassy hops.

Taste is malty golden toasty malts, a bit bitter, grassy, slight earthy spicy hops, slight citrus orange ring, long bitter hoppy finish.

Mouth is med bodied, decent carb.

Overall not bad, not great, decent hop bitterness, lacking on the nose, decent citrus and grassy spicy hops, nice malty balance.

Serving type: bottle

07-23-2011 20:44:53 | More by jlindros

gdrydenc

Massachusetts

3.65/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A - Pours a deep amber color with 1.5 fingers of off-white head that sticks around for a bit, but dies off shortly thereafter with a little lacing.

S - Smell is odd, no fruit to speak of. The bitterness is very noticeable, with a quite a bit of grassiness or pine.

T - The taste is very similar to the smell. The bitterness is underwhelming in the start, but overwhelming in the finish, a bad combo in my book. This is a decent IPA, but it's lacking anything that stands out.

M - The mouthfeel is standard. Slightly above average, but nothing to write home about. The bitterness lingers, which I'm not a fan of.

Overall, this beer was $3.70, so I can't much complain. A decent IPA, without much complexity, but for the price, a good deal.

Serving type: bottle

06-17-2011 01:44:08 | More by gdrydenc

Jwale73

Rhode Island

3.75/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

22oz. bottle served in my SA Perfect Pint. Pours a light, golden-orange with a semi-hazy clarity. Head was a quarter inch, loose and cream-colored and slowly dissipated into a skim. Nose expresses sweet citrus and caramel malt. Taste follows nose; however, not as sweet as suggested by the nose. Balance slightly favors the bitter side of the spectrum, but a light, malty backbone shows through towards the middle and culminates with a bitter, slightly medicinal finish. Mouthfeel is light-medium, but closer to the light side of the spectrum, with an assertive carbonation that falls shy of prickly and leaves some residual burn at the back of the throat between quaffs. A solid IPA and a bargain at just over $2.00 a bottle. I'm going to have to make more trips to Just Beer.

Serving type: bottle

09-14-2010 00:59:06 | More by Jwale73

tzieser

Arizona

3.98/5  rDev +7.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 4

couldn't decide if i should classify this as a blonde ale or an ipa since it's somewhat a hybrid of both.

a: pours a deep, slightly darker-than-expected golden color with a subtle haziness to it. one and a half finger head that quickly settles into a thin lacing. looking at the bottom of the bottle, i noticed a thin layer of sediment-- so it's definitely unfilitered....i typically like that but i have the feeling that if this were filtered it would bring out a much brighter color than what it is now. who really cares though. it's all about flavor in my book.

s: not the strongest ipa aroma(by far), but still has a solid hop nose. piney, citrusy hops are definitely noticible along with malted barley and other grains. not bad.

t: delicious. nice hop presence up front, very piney and grassy. subtle citrus notes. malted barley balances it out well. slightly bitter aftertaste, but it's quite pleasant. seems to be mostly (if not all) cascade hopped, which is fine by me. not a crazy-complex ipa but a solid one for sure. definitely a session beer, since i can't seem to get enough.

m&d: good mouthfeel. drinkability is outstanding. the most drinkable "regular" ipa i've ever had.

certainly worth a try. personally, i love the stuff. went through a case of bombers in about 3 days. i could see some people going into this brew thinking "ipa=hop bomb" and be thoroughly let down. i'm glad this is not the case, since it clearly says "golden ipa" on the bottle. don't go into this thinking "traditional english-style ipa" or "west coast hop tea ipa" because you'll certainly be disappointed. if you approach this brew as more of a golden ale with ipa characteristics you will be most pleased (as i was)

Serving type: bottle

08-10-2010 22:38:08 | More by tzieser