Back Bay IPA - Beer Works

BeerResearcher

Massachusetts

4.2/5  rDev +9.7%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

16oz glass at Salem.
It pours a deep coppery amber with a medium-sized off-white and some patchy lace.
The big fruit and floral bouquet aroma sets this one apart from any others of the IPA style. A light cut hay smell and citrusy notes peek through.
A biscuity and dry malty flavor lay a nice foundation for the ample citrusy and slightly metallic hop taste. The nice taste of pink grapefruit lasts throughout. Mild tastes of tart berries also add an interesting touch. The 6.5% ABV is hardly noticed.

Serving type: on-tap
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

07-19-2004 00:34:46 | More by BeerResearcher

jvajda

Ohio

3.9/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Apearance: Indian red, looked like a good IPA should.
Smell: Hops, hops, hops! Not too much else though.
Taste: A burst of hops, followed by grapefruitiness and sour tastes. Very good, but somehow not unique.
Mouthfeel: A good amount of carbonation makes this IPA welcome in the mouth.
Drinkability: This is an IPA that I might get bored with after a while, still very good though.

Serving type: on-tap
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

04-24-2004 05:59:41 | More by jvajda

GuinnessSmurf

Missouri

4.35/5  rDev +13.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Beautiful rocky head sits atop a golden inviting colored beer. The nose was subtle, but hinted at alcohol and hops. And hops is what you get..holy holy holy hops! It came in waves. Hop 1: Thick and heavy, the bearer of your burdens, smack you in the face and you love it hops. Hop 2: Joyful, celebratory sweet hops with hints of white grape and pear. Hop 3:Bitter hops with an alcohol intensity in the finish. Very complex beer - FANTASTIC. This beer was served right off the cask. Served on the warm side.

Serving type: cask
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

03-07-2004 17:45:12 | More by GuinnessSmurf

dannyvee

Massachusetts

4.1/5  rDev +7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

on tap at fenway beerworks. poured an amber-orange with a small off-white head that left a thin lacing. sparse, tiny bubbles meandered up from the bottom of the glass. citrus and sour apple aromas. light carbonation and medium body led to a pleasant mouthfeel. taste is a really nice balance of floral hop, citrus and a touch of malt. overall, a very refreshing session brew that begs to be drunk all night.

Serving type: on-tap
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

01-23-2004 15:44:59 | More by dannyvee

PatandDavid

Massachusetts

3.98/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Very nice all around. Pour is a dark cloudy tangerine color, with a nice head that left sheets of lacing in my glass. Aroma was rather mellow, and of sweet flowery hops. I found it well balanced, with some astringency and a slightly bitter aftertaste. Medium bodied, very smooth, you can't go wrong with this one. Pat

Serving type: cask
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

12-07-2003 23:13:03 | More by PatandDavid

mschofield

Massachusetts

4.43/5  rDev +15.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Hazy dark orange-gold with small bubbly white head- laces fairly well.
Very floral aroma with citrus as well.
Acid-free grapefruit taste (like a pink grapefruit), a little woody, becomes a little more bitter when it warms. A little pine and earthyness
Medium body, nicely balanced with malt matching the hops.

Very pleasant to drink, I could drink it all day long, especially off the cask

Serving type: cask
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

12-03-2003 16:28:00 | More by mschofield

stegmakk

New York

3.3/5  rDev -13.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Was light copper with little head and decent lacing

Aroma was a mild floral hops smell

Taste was not much stronger than the aroma...ok so maybe it was...but it did not have that big hop taste i was expecting...a little earthy floral taste...had a bitter end...

Overall it was OK...Not very flavorful but still a decent beer

Serving type: on-tap
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

11-23-2003 18:34:54 | More by stegmakk

taez555

Massachusetts

3.9/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Cask Conditioned.

This beer poured a translucent amber body with a white bubbly cask conditioned head.

The nose was beautiful. Lots of citrus hop smell. A touch of malt, but mostly... citrus hops.

The taste was very light and smooth. Almost no carbonation at all and at cellar temperature. A nice light caramel malt taste, a touch of wood, very fresh, but for the most part... Hops. Cascade, citrus hop bitterness and flavor all the way. It tasted like chomping on cascade hop pellets after a while.

Overall it's a nice beer. I don't know if I'll hit up the cask version again. It's just a little too hoppy and warm for me. But as IPA's go, it's very easy drinking and never over the top. A great all around IPA from BBW.

Serving type: cask
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

09-29-2003 07:22:06 | More by taez555

bewareOFpenguin

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I liked this. Good bite, plenty of hops to earn it it's "IPA" name. Very little malt taste. This beer probably went the best with the food, complimenting every thing I ate. Not overly carbonated, not complex, down to earth. A good beer to drink all night.

Serving type: on-tap
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

05-19-2003 08:42:04 | More by bewareOFpenguin

goz

Massachusetts

3.68/5  rDev -3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Cask conditioned : Copper pour, with a small but creamy white head, leaving lace all the way down. Pretty much all hops in this brew - Hops on the nose, hops on the tongue, and hop bitterness sticking around afterwards. Not much malt to be found through all the hops...but that isn't a bad thing in my eyes.

Serving type: cask
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

05-15-2003 06:37:47 | More by goz

scottum

Vermont

4.33/5  rDev +13.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured a copper amber with a small head. Nice and smooth for an IPA. A big beer. Good malts to balance the big hoppy taste. The hop profile is very nice. Lemon, grapefruit and pine like hop flavors come through. Some flavors from the cask come through too. Good mouthfeel and very drinkable. A good brew on cask for sure.

Serving type: cask
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

04-06-2003 12:16:19 | More by scottum

Bierman9

New Hampshire

4/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Enjoyed yesterday during the BA bier-bash at BBW Fenway (on a miserable, cold, raw Spring day!).

The pour produced a clean, clear, medium copper-colored bier, with a creamy, albeit short, head. The foam was white, with a fine bead, and left nice lacework.
Aroma was a full, fairly strong whiff of Cascades (or a reasonable facsimile thereof!).
Body was a respectable medium, and the "feel" was just a bit prickly on the tongue. Nothing to make it less than "good", though.
Flavor started with a mild maltiness, slightly toasty, just enough to keep things honest. Then the flavor went into hop overdrive, with a great grapefruity hop essence. The hop flavor really sticks in the throat, giving a super, longlasting rich aftertaste!
A tasty rendition of an IPA. One to savor and enjoy! Prosit!!

overall: 4
appearance: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | mouthfeel: 4 | drinkability: 4

525

Serving type: on-tap
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

04-06-2003 08:08:37 | More by Bierman9

TheLongBeachBum

California

4.2/5  rDev +9.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A nice deep copper colored beer that had a smooth creamy whitish head. Served chilled, but not too cold. A big hop aroma leads into a grapefruit entrance that introduces this most marvelous of East Coast IPA’s. Having drunk this on draft at it freshest, I have to say that I was incredibly impressed by the overall malt/hop balance. Fresh pine hops, lemon, orange, citric zest and some light spiciness give this beer a real dominance. I am not sure when, or if, I will ever drink this beer again. But one thing is for sure, if I do get to the Boston Beer Works in Canal Street again, the IPA will be my first beer – just as it was on Saturday 1st February 2003.

A really great beer to drink with a fellow BA, as I indeed had the sincere honor to.

Serving type: on-tap
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

02-04-2003 23:12:57 | More by TheLongBeachBum

doerickson

Virginia

3.85/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Copper coloring with a frothy white head. Citrus and floral hops constitute the nose. Hops are prevalent in the taste, with a fruity citrus twang. A hint of caramel malt is also evident, particularly as the beer warms, but this is primarily a hoppy brew, and a nice one at that.

Serving type: bottle
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

10-04-2002 22:20:33 | More by doerickson

Jason

Massachusetts

4.53/5  rDev +18.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Voluptuous mouth feel with in a medium body, huge grapefruit hop presence that throws faint piney and citric flavours all over the place. Juicy mild of more hops and a touch of toasty caramel malt flavour. This is a down right kick ass IPA and one I’ll always go back to.

Serving type: on-tap
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

06-05-2002 17:19:42 | More by Jason

BeerAdvocate

Massachusetts

4.33/5  rDev +13.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Presentation: Cask Conditioned served at about 60*F.

Appearance: Tawny copperish golden with some haze. Head is an off white creamy looking lace.

Smell: Esters, fruit and a slight bourbon aroma hit the nose. A citrus hop is also evident.

Taste: Rich smooth malt, with almost some honey qualities in the sweetness, then the sumptuous rind citrus hop flavours make an appearance. The after taste is of more hop and a pronounced bourbon whiskey flavour.

Notes: Very complex and Oh so good! This IPA comes from the same batch as the IPA on tap but when conditioned for 7-10 days bourbon chip are added for a twist.

Serving type: cask
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

09-04-1998 00:00:01 | More by BeerAdvocate