Wagner Valley IPA (NY)

The Finger Lakes area winery Wagner began brewing beer about a decade ago. In his book New York Breweries, Lew Bryson quotes the brewer as saying that their wine customers enjoy their beer, but not hoppy ones. Maybe this explains why this India Pale Ale was a somewhat late addition to their line of beers.

This pours an copper-orange color with a dirty white head. I caught a whiff of citrus and maybe herbs. The palate seems fine at first -- medium body, tight carbonation -- but it didn't seem to fill my mouth completely. Maybe this is an issue of taste. It didn't seem completely rounded out to me, hitting me on the top of the mouth, but not the tongue. After sampling, I came online to see others were saying about this, and was surprised to see that many rate this as a bit of a hop bomb. I didn't really see it that way (variations among bottles?). It does have a pleasant citrus flavor with a grassy or piney touch too it, but is less potent than most other IPAs I've had and even a few APAs. I don't sense the 6.2% ABV either (which isn't a criticsim). Overall, a beer that merits only a subdued recommendation from me.