Review: Tree Hop Head IPA

I was fortunate enough to review Tree's Hop Head Double IPA recently, and now I get to review their famous India Pale Ale.

Hop Head is one of Tree's most prized beers. In fact, whenever I talk about Tree's beer with friends, they always ask if I've ever tried their IPA - which I have never, until now.

Tree released their Character taster pack recently here in Manitoba featuring 3 bottles of 4 of their beers, but unfortunately it was insanely expensive at $37 for 12 bottles before tax! That's just too much, especially when two of the four beers are lagers/pilsners. Fortunately, Tree's Hop Head IPA comes in a reasonable 330mL bottle, so good enough for just having one beer on the patio - or you can buy more. It also is available at $2.20/bottle, so quite affordable just to try, or to stack up with.

Appearance: First thing I noticed was the bottle, it's a nice thick glass bottle, different from the usual long necks we see in Canada - it's nearly identical to a Carlsberg beer bottle, but brown. It pours a nice clear caramel-amber redness, decent amount of cream foam, and it's one of the clearer IPAs I've seen in a while, you can see right through it, not hazy at all.

Aroma: Decent amount of hops, but it wouldn't be Hop head if it wasn't filled to the brim in hops! Decently bitter thanks to the great amount of hops, a slight caramel aroma, and a bit piney.

Taste: Hops is the overall theme to this beer, this is a more bitter hop IPA instead of a citrusy hop IPA. With that being said, there's a decent amount of sweetness that follows the hit of bitterness. The sweetness is a bit of a caramel sweetness, rather than a lemony citrus. There's also more pine, just like the aroma stated.

Overall Thoughts: If you are looking for a more bitter and hoppy India Pale Ale, this is a great treat. However, if you are looking for a lighter IPA, this may not be for you, but seeing that it has a nice caramel sweetness that follows, this could eventually become a favourite of yours. It costs $2.20 for a 330mL bottle, has an ABV of 5.6% and this will do amazingly well for Canada Day festivities on Sunday! Share this with friends and savour this during the hot summer days.

www.treebeer.com