You know what they say about first impressions… I can’t really remember exactly, but I think it’s something about how first impressions are important. I found that to be a bit of a problem in my experience with Roughtail as the first beer I had by them was their 12th Round Strong Ale and I just flat didn’t care for it. I was sitting at The Garage in Edmond playing trivia and decided I would give this new-ish local beer a shot. So many factors can go into making an experience non-awesome, and for some reason (maybe we lost trivia) that night was one of those situations. Maybe it was a mood thing, or whatever I drank before that (probably whiskey of some kind) just messed it up. I didn’t give Roughtail another shot until I tried their IPA on tap due to a friend’s recommendation and my feelings about the brewery did a 180. Everything Roughtail I have had since then has really impressed me. I haven’t had 12th round again yet, but it’s on the list to revisit and something tells me it the experience will be different this go time. Anyways, on to the IPA.
Company: Roughtail Brewing Co.
Location: Midwest City, OK
ABV: 6.7%
IBUs: 80
Style/Description: IPA
Price: $10 (4-pack, 16 oz cans)
Appearance: Pours light amber, with a touch of haze. Bright white, creamy head that sat around for quite a while before subsiding with lots of sticky lacing persisting throughout the entire drinky time.
Nose: This IPA has a really nice and sweet aroma. Big aromas of pine oil, grapefruit, and a very interesting cotton candy sweetness that balances everything out very well.
Taste: The first thing that punches you in the ass is the big hop bitterness, but oh man, then comes an awesome velvety-smooth mouthfeel full of resin-y goodness with a nice caramel malt quality and some of that grapefruit citrus. That cotton candy sweetness also followed to the palate, which like on the nose, really served well to balance out the taste.
Finish: The resins really come through more on the finish and lead to a medium dry fade away with the grapefruit eventually coming front and center and being the lingering note.
Overall: This IPA really holds its own against the other big IPAs in the state (the only ones I really care about, at least), Anthem and F5. It starts off big and hoppy, transitions to sweet and malty, then leaves you with fantastic lip puckering citrus. It’s incredibly well balanced and you should be drinking this stuff if you aren’t.
Rating: 4/5
