Name: Karl Strauss Tower 10 IPA

Style: IPA (India Pale Ale)

Country: U.S.A.

ABV: 7.0%

Beer description: One of the great things about Karl Strauss beers are the labels and the names.  Of course, great labels and names aren’t unique to Karl Strauss, but their’s are particularly good.  Each beer has a name with a story attached to it, and the label and bottle just give it the feel of their San Diego heritage.  Tower 10 IPA is no exception on this.  And of course, Tower 10 by Karl Strauss is no exception to the quality beer that these guys put out.

The aroma here is mostly citrus, more citrus, concentrating on grapefruit, and a little bit of pine interacting behind it.  There’s some floral in there as well and a general earthiness about the aroma, like old flowers and grass clippings.  It’s a really hop driven aroma, especially the citrus, which really just pushes in front of everything.

This is a really typical American IPA in the taste.  The grapefruit continues, but the dominant flavour is the pine, which leads into a great dry, bitter finish.  At the beginning though is the smallest hint of sweetness and caramel, which leads into the graphefruit and finishes with the bitter pine.

Given the amount of alcohol in this beer, it’s not an entirely full bodied or malty IPA.  This is pretty appropriate given the ethos of Karl Strauss Brewery: it’s a San Diego beach IPA, so, while many American IPA’s can be heavier in body, this one’s a little lighter. That being said, it’s a hop driven beer anyway.

See other IPA reviews.

See other reviews of Karl Strauss beers.

And for those not in the know, IPA stands for India Pale Ale. Find out why it’s called IPA.