Upslope is the newest member of the Boulder brewing scene and the only brewery in town to can their regular releases. As they only can two of their beers and don't distribute too far from home I was happy to trade a few local brews for some of these. Cheers!

From the Upslope site:

"Our IPA will appeal to the beer enthusiast who desires a bold, deep and bitter ale.  With a coppery color indicative of a traditional IPA, Upslope India Pale Ale has a complex malty character and is more well-balanced than most IPA’s, but still offers that bitterness that IPA lovers seek."

Here we go...

Pour - slightly murky brown in appearance (which does go away with a little time) with some reddish tints when held to the light. The head never really appeared, it was pretty thin and then it sort of slunk away.

Aroma - wow, very interesting aroma. I can't help but smell Tootsie rolls, caramel, dark wheat toast, some slight piney notes (sort of like chocolate covered pine needles) and a bit of lemon. I really like the way this beer smells, its original but very inviting.

Taste - I can definitely tell you that the aromas translate into the flavors. This has a definite Tootsie roll sort of taste to it that combines with some bitter hops and lots of malt backbone. This has a nice bite to it in the finish and leaves your mouth a little dry and knowing its been assaulted by hops. The tastes all come together nicely in this brew. Well done!

Overall - it was definitely hoppier than I had expected and presented a lot more flavor than maybe I was anticipating. This was a solid beer albeit not the IPA that many of us have become accustomed to. This is an IPA with a great malt backbone and a unique hop flavor. Its very well balanced and its the type of beer that after two of them you absolutely love it. I wish I had more...

Would I buy more of it? - if I could I would! Great stuff from a tiny little brewery in Boulder, Colorado. If you can find their stuff definitely pick some up and support these guys.

Note - Upslope Brewing was founded by Matt Cutter and Dany Pages. Pages had been brewing in Ushaia in Tierra del Fuego in the very southern tip of Argentina before moving north. They started the brewery during the "hop crisis" and to get around this issue they imported hops from Pages' native Argentina and they continue to brew with Patagonian cascade hops to this day.