Ellida IPA

Ellida IPA takes its name, apparently, from a Viking vessel known as “the magic dragon ship of the Baltic Sea”. I couldn’t find a Wikipedia entry, which is weird, but I’ll take the word of Greenville, South Carolina’s Quest Brewing Co. The percentage isn’t listed on the 355mL can, and the mobile website was unhelpful,  but the non-affiliated ratebeer.com lists it at 6.9%.

The South Carolinian suds have a hazy brown-orange hue under an off-white head. The nose is potent and murky, with dank, resinous notes. The flavour has more emphasis on a stable malt body than many American IPAs, giving Ellida some nice balance. However, the back end is a bit more muddy than I’d like it to be—it’s compellingly bitter and heartily boozy, but it lacks the shiny crispness that characterizes a top IPA.

Ellida is bold and big, but it isn’t very nimble or subtle. The flavour is closer to that of a conventional double IPA than the slighter cousin, but the booze is more like a single. Flavourful is grand, but nuance is worth something and that hurts Ellida a wee bit.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.