St. Arnold Endeavour IPA

As this is the first beer review on /beer, I figured what better way to start than with the beer I drank on IPA Day. And with a semi-local brewery to boot. I’ve been becoming increasingly more, and more impressed with each beer I drink from St. Arnold’s, the little brewery from Houston, Texas. Each one is more interesting and impressive than the last. Endeavour is no different.

I only became interested in IPAs within the last 8 months or so. I had never been a big fan of the strong hop flavor, but my wife, Rhea, had become a big fan and so I’d try a little of hers here and there. Over time, I developed a love of IPAs. In fact, she and I just bottled our second homebrew, which happens to be an Imperial IPA. It’s a bit surprising that my first beer review would be of an IPA, let alone a Double IPA.

I poured the beer into a pint glass and I immediately took note of its amber color. It was clean, and vibrant. The color itself wasn’t much different than your typical IPA, but it seemed more vibrant for some reason. The aroma is very nice and not nearly as hoppy as I expected. It’s more of a medium hop aroma, which was surprising, and pleasant. I also noticed that it didn’t form too large of a head, which may have had something to do with the aroma.

The flavor was fantastic. The front was very interesting. It was light and hoppy, but it let you know it was there. The mouth feel was equally light, and was well-carbonated. The finish was pretty sharp, with a hint of piney, most likely from the Simcoe hops used.

As I drank the rest, it left some decent lacing on the glass.

Overall, it’s a fantastic beer. I’ll gladly pick it up again. Locally, in New Orleans, I found this at Rouse’s.