I finally managed to get my hands on some of this much talked about, hop laden, aluminum imprisoned IPA from the hippy town of Ashland, Oregon. I can remember going to the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland on a Junior High field trip and thinking to myself what a cool and funky town. Now, quite a few years later I am intrigued by the beer from there and Caldera's canned offerings. I can only hope this lives up to all the talk, but deep down inside I know it will. 

From the Caldera site:

"An American-style India Pale Ale brewed with plenty of body and an assertive hop profile."

Here we go...

Pour - bright, bright, glowing orange and yellow in color. Wow, it is a sight to behold. Big, fluffy, stark white head rests on top protecting the "goods".

Aroma - pineapple, grapefruit, tangerine, mandarin orange, lemon, powdered sugar and caramel malt. Lots of nice citrus and tropical fruit flavors but not so much piney-ness. 

Taste - graprefuity, tropical fruity, bittersweet and tongue drying. Plenty of malty sweetness backing up this dry mouth inducing IPA. The hop profile is very pungent and fresh coming from the can and this one lives up to its billing as one of the better canned IPAs on the market (of which there are more and more). Great job to all those at Caldera! Keep up the good work and I look forward to trying your other canned offerings. 

Overall - great IPA in a can! Very drinkable and well balanced (which is what really makes this one stand out). Fresh hop flavors is well preserved in the can and the overall drinkability is excellent.

Would I buy more of it? - Well, I was lucky enough to get a few cans of this via several trades so its not so much a matter of buying it again as it is getting it through other means again. That being said, if I am ever out in Oregon I'd love to check out the brewery in Ashland and maybe force myself to drink more of that "lithia" water. 

Note - Do you like hoppy beers? Do you like good beer in cans?

Caldera IPA at sunset on the first day of spring in New England