Archive for February, 2012

Review: Gilgamesh Ridgeway IPA

Author: Jason Harris
February 5, 2012

I’m a huge IPA fan. I love hoppy, bitter, hoppy beers.  Did I say I love hops? Well, I do.

Gilgamesh logoI also love local brew. In fact, in my town of Salem, Oregon, there are only a handful of breweries in the local area. We have Pale Horse in town, Seven Brides out in Silverton, and another brewery called Gilgamesh a little south in Turner. I’ve always been very curious about Gilgamesh, but never got the opportunity to try their beers, until now.

Gilgamesh Brewing has had a pop-up store of sorts in the Reed Opera House in downtown Salem since Thanksgiving. I wandered in last weekend and met Eric Lopez, Gilgamesh Brewing‘s Marketing Director. Nick gave me the run down of the current selection of seasonals and year-round brews available in the temporary “Winter Ale House”.

The first beer I bought to review is Ridegeway IPA, which I chose based of the description and my love of IPAs.  According to Ridgeway’s description, here’s the rundown:

Dominated by citrus and pine flavors, this reddish beer features three of our favorite hops (Columbus, Simcoe, and Amarillo) added every minute for an hour during the brewing process. The three pounds of hops per barrel forge a well-balanced, full range of hoppiness, in this medium body brew.

The color is defininly red – I would actually say it’s more copper colored. At first sip, Ridgeway IPA tastes of light bitterness but more of a strong amber ale. This is a light-bodied IPA.

The IBU rating on the Gilgamesh website states the beer is 100+, however this bitterness rating doesn’t translate into the real-butter tastefulness of this beer.  This IPA will be favorable for beer fans who love a hint of hopy-inspired bitterness, but don’t want to be punched in the face with said taste.

I never picked up on the hint of pine flavors, but the citrus definintely comes through mid-sip.

I’d recommend this beer wholeheartedly.

Have you had Ridgeway IPA from Turner’s Gilgamesh Brewing?  If so, what’s your opinion?