Foresworn India Pale Ale Brewed with Whole Leaf Hops

Review Date 6/6/2024 By John Staradumsky

  Style: India Pale Ale   Brewery: Edmund's Oast   Country: USA   State: South Carolina   $ Per OZ: N/A   ABV: 7%

So, I went to drink a can of Edmund’s Oast Foresworn India Pale Ale the other night. This beer is brewed with whole leaf hops according to the label. I thought I had never had it before, but as a matter of fact I had. I bought a 4-pack in January of 2022 and as it turned out, that’s when I drank my first can. The cans are stamped 09/14/21 on the bottom, which I assume is the packaging date.

Obviously, this was a concern since I was drinking the beer in June of 2024. I quickly realized that I had taken tasting notes on it when I first bought it, but never fleshed them out into a review. This presented a unique opportunity, since I could compare my original notes to how the beer tasted with age.

So, before looking at my original notes, I drank the beer and took a new set. Here is what I said about Foresworn India Pale Ale in early 2022:

Edmund’s Oast Foresworn pours to a dark orange amber color with a thick fluffy white rocky cauliflower head and a nose of citrus and leafy green hops. Taking a sip, the beer is medium in body with a firm caramel maltiness you can really sink your teeth into. It’s citrusy with orange, resiny, and green leafy with herbal notes. Finishes nicely bitter. I’m very impressed with this one. Permeated with dank leafy hops.

I enjoyed it, and gave it a rating of four stars at the time. I have no idea what I paid for it then. Now, almost two and a half years later, here’s what I thought:

Edmund’s Oast Foresworn India Pale Ale pours to a dark ruby orange coplor and a thick rocky head with a nose of bitter leafy green hops. Taking a sip, the beer is thick and chewy with luscious caramel malt and I immediately love that. It’s permeated with green leafy, dank herbal bitter hops and a long dry bitter finish. I get minty winter green and green tea. It’s really quite delicious.

Not all that different than when I first enjoyed the beer. I think the Centennial hops and firm maltiness helped this one hold up over the years. The alcohol content of 7% by volume could not have hurt, either.

The brewery says:

Dirt paths converge on a ghost town. A dust covered rider creeps though the main

thoroughfare, until his horse breathes its last. From under a staircase, a skeletal hand emblazoned with the mark of The Whole Leaf reaches out and latches on. Cowering in horror, the rider utters words that echo in the solitude, “But you’ve been… Foresworn.”

We hope you enjoy this pale copper IPA laced with whole leaf hops and a malt backbone you can set your clock by. Notes of pineapple, bubblegum, and angel food cake covered with candied orange emerge from this lean yet balanced brew.

If they make this again, I would buy it again. The beer is part of the Edmund's Oast Around Less Often series, after all.

Glad I tried it?  T