Meantime India Pale Ale

The Brewers:
Brewmaster:  Alastair Hook
Company:  Meantime Brewing Company
Location:  Lawrence Trading Estate, Blackwall Lane, London, England
Website: www.meantimebrewing.com 

The Beer:
Style:  IPA (English)
ABV:  7.4%
IBU: [About] 70

The Drink:
Drank out of a 13 oz. brandy snifter

Pours a combination of orange/brown/gold, with a thin head that didn't really hang around.  Laces pretty well, but not fantastically.  Beer is very hazy, and is either hardly filtered or has a good deal of protein hanging around.

Aroma has pleseant, subtle citrus tones with a strong floral presence, characteristic of "Near" Noble British hops (Fuggles, Gouldings etc).  Some caramel/malt presence too, but mostly overpowered by the hop aroma.  

Beer starts off with a good deal of body and moderate carbonation.  Caramel malt and crystal flavors carry through and are accompanied by the floral and citrus character of the hops.  As malt flavor and hop aromas fade, hop bitterness grows, and finishes very dry and bitter.  Finish is very long, and fades into a fruity "tang."  The farther you get into this beer, the more pronounced the citrus flavors become.    

Overall:
This beer definitely drinks like an IPA, but the full-bodied flavor and citrus aromas combine well and set this apart from many other beers of this style.  It reminds me of an IPA brewed with typical American citrus hops, Cascade and Citra mainly (think Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Sumpin' or Maximus) but with the malt character of a traditional British ale (Fuller's ESB comes to mind at the moment).  The bitterness in this beer is not as pronounced as your typical IPA, and I would recommend this beer to any beer drinker, even those who don't claim to be "hop-heads."  A long finish, robust malt backbone and strong hop presence make this beer an excellent slow drinker, but at 7.4% ABV, this beer does wonders at a faster pace.