The glass was purchased a few years back when my wife and I went to Middlebury, Vermont with a friend of ours. While we were there we visited the Otter Creek brewery and store. Unfortunately their schedule of tours didn't match up with the weekend plans of our hosts. But we did get to sample some fine brews in the tasting room. I purchased a nice 12 pack of beer, the glass in the picture above, and a large heavy duty canvas bag to tote it all home in.
Otter Creek was one of the first craft brewers I came across as my education in all things hoppy grew more adventuresome. Their Copper Ale (which I notice is no longer offered) was one of the first microbrews that was readily available at stores and bars around Connecticut that caught my attention. Since then I have enjoyed many of their offerings.
As you can tell from the photo the Backseat Berner has a golden brown and somewhat hazy appearance. If you visit the website at the link above the haziness is explained. We are assured it is cosmetic only with no impact to taste and I certainly detected none.
After the color the next thing noticed was a subtle citrus aroma to be expected from something labeled as an IPA.
The first impression upon tasting Backseat Berner was the strong body or backbone of the beer. There was some maltiness to it and of course the slight citrus taste from the hops. You would not expect an IPA to have a light body, and the Berner definitely does not. I'm sure the 7% ABV has something to do with that.
For an IPA there were two characteristics that really stood out to me. One was how smooth the aftertaste was. It was extremely balanced with little or no hint of bitterness. The second was the silky feel the beer seemed to have in my mouth. Perhaps this has something to do with the haze their website speaks of.
I've had stronger IPAs, and IPAs with more pronounced hoppiness. But I've had few IPAs, especially one with this alcohol content, that were this smooth or went down this easy.
I'm giving Otter Creek's Backseat Berner 7 mugs out of 10.