Beer of the Week - Mountain Goat Coffee IPA

Coffee IPA (Seriously). – 6%

I can understand why some people may feel that local craft breweries should spend more energy on the perfecting of a well known style like Pilsener or Bitter, rather than crafting some opium infused, quadruple hopped, imperial star destroyer of a purple 2IPAxLambic Guerzer hybrid.  Myself though?  I am not of that opinion.  It’s the inventiveness of some of the brewers and the lunacy of some of their creations which helps make the craft beer world so absorbing...

That being said, I approached this beer with a healthy dose of scepticism, my mind couldn’t really consolidate the idea of Indian Pale Ale and coffee.  Luckily, Mountain Goat don’t dick around and have produced a really nice ale, well suited to order once the main course has been cleared away.

It looks good, smallish white head on a clear, noble looking red tinged oak.  The nose is fruity, mango backed by fresh coffee beans, not roasty like you’d expect, but with an organic earthiness which gives it a lot of depth. 

 

It tastes a bit odd at first but as the glass warms and you get used to the flavour you start to enjoy it.  A really well rounded fruitiness of mangoes, paw paw and rockmelon is followed by a mild espresso- like earthy bitterness. 

The coffee flavours do not dominate and are in balance, although I felt it didn’t have that more assertive bitterness you’d expect from something calling itself an IPA.  Either way, the flavours worked together really well, I hope Mountain Goat keep making this, maybe as a Rare Breed, because it is an enjoyable beer that I’d gladly have again.