Rubicon IPA

Product Reviewed: Rubicon IPA
Brewed by: Rubicon Brewing Co.; Sacramento, CA
Date Reviewed: December 22, 1994
Reviewed By: David Brockington
Original Posted to Usenet: March 29, 1995

Rubicon Brewing
2004 Capitol Ave.
Sacramento, California
(916) 448-7032

Initial Impressions:

Sacramento was the last stop on my winter roadtrip. We specifically aimed for Sacramento because the Rubicon was highly recommended, and I had never had the opportunity to visit. Driving up from Barstow, we arrived in Sacramento in the early evening. We quickly found a cheap motel ten blocks from the brewpub, stowed our stuff, and made the short walk to the Rubicon. The close proximity of our room would be a boon; Rubicon had several fine beers on tap that evening, including their 'wheat wine'. Needless to say, driving back to the motel would have been an extralegal pursuit.

I ordered up a sampler of the seven beers on tap that evening, which arrived in wine glasses (nice touch, that). After jotting down some brief notes on all seven beers, I settled on doing a full review on the IPA. It ought to be noted that pints at the Rubicon go for $2.25, which would make it one of the better priced pints in the country. (Of course, we are discussing 'American pints' served in the common 14-ounce 'shaker' glasses.)

The beer itself cast a pale hue in the glass. It was crystal-clear, not throwing off even the slightest haze. A white head had formed from the pour, which persisted, tracing that oh-so-pleasant trail of lacework down the inside of the glass charting my progress through the pint.

Nose:

A pronounced, unrestrained hoppiness overwhelmed the nose. Some estery hints bandied about in the background, lending moral support to the hop onslaught.

Flavor:

A slight bitterness commenced, followed by a huge hop flavor (no doubt associated with the big nose). Surprisingly, the finish of the beer was remarkably empty. I found little maltiness, some fruitiness (but not much) and a restrained bitterness.

Final Analysis:

IPA's should be bitter, first and foremost. I believe that the Rubicon IPA did have enough IBU's to be an IPA, but the huge concentration on the nose and flavor hop tips the overall hop profile of this beer out of balance. The flavor hop was so big, in fact, that I believe it crowded out other flavor components. The lack of a finish, where I would expect a lingering bitterness, was troubling as well. That being said, it wasn't a bad beer; it wasn't even a "bad" IPA. All it needs, I think, is some more hop bitterness to give a foundation to the flavor/aroma hops, and to provide a nice finish.

Rating (5 to 1)

***

Brief Comments on other Rubicon Beers:

American Wheat: yeasty nose, wheaty tang. Other than that, fairly standard. ** subjective, *** as an american wheat.
Amber: Clocked in at 1.052. Excellent example of american ESB. ****
Irish Red: What's an Irish Red anyhow? Very, very malty. ***1/2
Porter: No roasted barley, which is good; a bunch of patent malt, which is good as well. ****
Stout: roasty nose, not at all bad. ***1/2
Wheat Wine: 1.092. Unique, strong wheat "barley wine". Enjoyed it. Perhaps too much; I didn't get around to jotting a score down in my notebook.

All in all, the Rubicon's a damn fine brewery, and considering the price, the folks in Sacramento are in pretty good shape.

Next Up:

Whidbey Island Stout
Blue Ridge Porter
Blue Ridge Amber Lager
Red Hook Ballard Bitter "IPA"
A bunch of barleywines. :)

David Brockington

Seattle, USA
bronyaur@u.washington.edu