Elysian The Immortal IPA

The last time I had a beer made in Washington had to have been a few weeks ago drinking Redhook Winterhook out of a bottle at a friend's birthday party. Before that it was nearly 3 years ago when I had my first and last Redhook ESB. That sums up the experience I have with Washington craft beer. That was until I was given a great tip by a group from Oregon and Washington who I met at Port Brewing a few weeks ago. They told me to seek out Elysian Brewing Company if I'm ever up there. Why wait? I set up a trade for Elysian's main lineup of four beers and now I'm ready to see what Washington is all about (other than rain).

The Immortal IPA pours a clear dark brownish orange with a pretty dense and fluffy head that initially is hard for form, but when it does looks beautiful. It doesn't recede too fast either, it sticks around as a frothy finger thick cap. The smell at first is pretty citrusy, but you can pick up pine in the aroma as well. In the taste I get the opposite- lots of pine. After a few sips the citrus starts to come out and gives you a really nice juicy citrus beginning to each sip (I get orange peel), followed by piny hops. The hop flavor of this is strong, exactly the way an IPA should be. It isn't one dimensional though, it's built on a pretty generous body, almost reminding me of Surly Furious. It seems to come across mostly toasty, but not so strong as to overshadow much of the hoppy goodness. This was a great introduction into Washington beer, and I have high hopes for the ESB, Porter, and Stout that remain in my Elysian lineup. The Immortal IPA gets a 4.3, or a BeerAdvocate grade of A from me.