I put a lot of thought into exactly how I judge the beers I review. On the one hand, I think about the style of beer I'm drinking. I think about what attributes that style of beer ought to have once poured into the glass. I try to take into account what innovations are being offered by the brewery. For instance, are they bittering the beer with something other than hops? Or is the brewery doing something more straightforward?
When I drink the beer, my first thought is to those flavors passing across my tongue. Are they appropriate to the style of beer I'm drinking? Do they taste good or bad? And if so, what drives how good or bad the beer tastes? Sometimes that final factor can come down to something as simple as balance. Do the flavors support each other in a way that's harmonious and balanced?
Then it comes time to add all these factors together and give the beer a score and a recommendation I think is appropriate. Page Turner pours into my glass slightly hazy and the color of polished copper. The head is rocky, white, and lasting.
Page Turner's nose starts off assertively hoppy. Hop aromas are ripe, juicy citrus combined with grapefruit pith and pine needles. As with many good American IPAs, Page Turner gives me a hint of grain, combined with unbaked bread dough and notes of yeast. A gentle earthiness also provides an interesting through note.
On the tongue, Page Turner is medium bodied with an assertive up front dryness. The center gives me notable graininess mixed with not very much flavor of caramel. Hop profile comes in strong at the end, giving me woodsy hop flavor. Woodsy hop flavor moves quickly into a decently assertive bitterness. Unfortunately, that bitterness combines a little to easily with flavors of grain and up front dryness.
I'll give Page Turner IPA a 6.5 out of 10. Overall, it's a good smelling beer, with aromas of hop and malt that make me eager to take that first sip. Unfortunately the flavor profile has a sort of grainy dryness that only serves to accentuate the hop profile a little too much. Without that up front dryness, this would be a really good IPA with medium bodied mouthfeel and flavors of caramel. As it is though, the dryness detracts from the overall experience a little too much.
