Widmer Brothers Spiced IPA

Widmer Brothers sometimes hits the ball out of the park, sometimes it strikes out swinging, but it never lacks for ingenuity. The spiced IPA, part of their Rotator IPA series, is a collaboration with the Quality Ale and Fermentation Fraternity (Quaff) - a Portland home brewers association. This IPA is brewed with Assam tea, ginger, cinnamon, clove, star anise, black pepper and cardamon. Not sure how long this was setting around at The Still, but I would classify it (if classifiable at all) as a winter warmer, as spiced beers often are. I had one bottle of it poured into a Sam Adams perfect pint glass and just couldn't get past the weirdness of the whole thing. The tea taste is very prominent, distracting from the hops and the beer taste. If it's still around I may try this again in the colder months, but I'm not too optimistic about the prospects of this odd child.