Rough Draft Brewing Company - Eraser IPA

It's Sunday. Day before Monday. Day before we have to go back to work and deal with bullshit. Am I right? So what better way to forget about that factoid then to crack open a new beer and get some drinking in?

I picked this up about a week ago and am just now finally getting to it. Today I'm drinking Eraser IPA by Rough Draft Brewing Company which, surprise surprise, is located in San Diego. I've heard some decent things about this brewery so when I saw it in the local liquor store I decided to pick this one up. Let's get this beer poured and see how it stands up to other SD brews.

Eraser IPA comes in at 7% abv and pours out a very clear golden yellow color. There was about a finger to a finger and a half of a foamy white head that doesn't stick around for very long. Once it dissipates back into itself there's a bit of a sticky lacing left behind. It's not overly impressive but it's there at least. There's quite a bit of carbonation coming up from the bottom of the glass as well. Overall, looks like a pretty standard IPA. Let's get the nose.

The first thing I get on the nose is a subtle, sweet orange character. There's a slight sweet malt coming through behind the orange. I'm picking up some citrus peel as well. Again, it's subtle. There's an earthy hop I'm picking up but like everything else, it's light. Overall, this beer doesn't have a lot going on in the aroma. Let's see if the taste offers more.

Right away there's a pretty weak rush of orange and citrus coming through. I'm getting a little bit of that sweet malt. I'm picking up what really tastes a lot like a pilsner malt. I don't get a lot of bitterness, not much of a hop character. Not much of anything. It just tastes like a bitter pilsner. It's really underwhelming. Back of the mouth there's a little bit of bitterness, a little more of that orange citrus character. But really, that's about it. 

So overall, Eraser IPA by Rough Draft Brewing Company is pretty sub par. When you are a brewery in San Diego, an area known for hop bombs, you should at least have your IPA have some hop characters. Eraser IPA really doesn't. If I had this on draft and didn't know what it was, I'd guess this was at most, a Pale Ale. Calling this an IPA seems wrong. This is really one of the weaker IPA I've had and honestly, one of the worst I've had in a while. 

Rating: D