IPA

A yellow six-pack of beer caught my eye the other day. That is Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Springfrest IPA. Thgis 6% ABV IPA is a limited release made with malts such as Carapils, Malted Wheat, and Pilsner. There are hops like Centennial, Centennial Lupulin, Citra Lupulin, and CTZ Lupulin. Sierra Nevada uses Ale yeast here. This IPA pours yellow with a one-finger white head. The aroma is lemony, bitter, and light. The taste is also lemony, bitter, and light. It is also herbal, which plays well with the lemon notes. This beer has a light mouthfeel. Then comes a nice, lightly hoppy/bitter citrusy finish. The aftdertaster is bitter and citrusy. This is a good beer, not overly bitter or hoppy. I find it a good spring drinker, and you can have several. The flavor is balanced enough for drinking a few. I recommend Springfest IPA. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

I am in Barcelona, Spain, and I saw Damm Complot Mediterranean IPA at the hotel rooftop bar. This 6.6% ABV beer, made by Damm, is produced by Estrella Damm. This beer uses eight hops, such as Nugget, Summit, Willamette, Citra, Centennial, Simcoe, Amarillo, and Mosaic. These are grown on the Mediterranean coast. This beer is only sold in Spain. This IPA pours orange with a one-finger white head. The aroma is bitter and hoppy with a slight earthy note. The flavor is bitter up front with an earthy flavor. There is a slightly orange/grapefruit flavor on the back of the mouth. This has a medium body mouthfeel. Then this IPA finishes with a bitterness. The aftertaste is of bittering hops, and it goes quickly. This is an okay IPA, but it lacks the flavor of other IPAs. But you can drink a few of these. The flavor is not too much. I give this a C-. The flavor profile is just one note, but that is not too bad, and due to the uniqueness of this beer, I would recommend it. But if you don’t have this beer, you won’t miss much. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

It has been a while since I’ve had a Resident Culture Brewing beer (residentculturebrewing.com). So I saw Disco Baby India Pale Ale at my local Harris Teeter grocery store. This beer is 6.5% ABV, and it is hopped with Amarillo, Citra, and Simcoe hops here in Charlotte, North Carolina. This beer pours a hazy yellow with a two-finger white head. The aroma is bitter and orangey, with a light, sweet note. It has a thick feeling in the mouth. This IPA finishes with a bitter orange flavor with a hint of sweetness. The aftertaste is not as orange-flavored as the one you get on the first sip. But the orange is there with a lingering bitterness. This IPA is good, B-. It is just bitter orange, and that is pretty much the only two flavors to it, so that is a slight knock against it. But this is still good, and I’d still recommend Disco Baby India Pale Ale. The orange bitter IPA is not a bad choice. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

I like IPAs, but the market is overflowing with them. A lot of IPA choices out there, and this one is Brewers at 4001 Yance Crown Town American IPA. This American IPA is 7.5% ABV. This is a local brewery with different breweries. These breweries are Sixpoint, Victory, Southern Tier, and Bold Rock Cider. Crown Town is a nickname of Charlotte, NC. We’re known as the Queen City after Queen Charlotte. This IPA pours a copper color with a two-finger white head that leaves beautiful lacing behind. The aroma of this IPA is dank, bitter, and piney. The flavor is dank with pine notes. There is light onion and bitters with grapefruit flavors. This has a medium body feel to the mouth. This American IPA finishes with a pine bitterness. The aftertaste is a lighter pine flavor with deep bitter notes. This is what I remember IPAs to be back twenty-five years ago, before they exploded in popularity. This is a solid IPA that is an A-. The only downside to this beer is that the bitter flavor starts to become too much after the second. But I would still recommend it! Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

This India Pale Ale is a Collaboration between Burial Beer and Cloudburst Brewing. This IPA, 6.8% ABV, was brewed for Burial’s annual Burnpile festival (2025). Mashed with wheat and oats. Whirlpooled with Simcoe, Nectaron, and Simcoe Dynaboost. Double dry hopped with Amarillo Fresh CGX Nuvo, Nectaron, and Citra Cryo. The IPA pours bright yellow with a bright two-finger white head. The aroma is tropical and citrusy, with notes of orange/grapefruit. It also has a herbal aroma. The flavor is a combination of orange, grapefruit, light tropical notes, and dank, with a dry finish. The finish is light on fruit. Then it has a dry, dank fruit aftertaste. This beer has a medium body that somewhat coats your tongue for a second. This is a good beer. It’s not the best, but still something I’d recommend. It’s an A-. I wasn’t a fan of the dryness of this beer, but the tropical and citrus flavors helped. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

One of my favorite breweries, Maine Beer Company, in Freeport, Maine, brews some delicious beers. This beer is Woods & Waters India Pale Ale. This IPA has a 6.2% ABV. This IPA commemorates the establishment of Katahdin Woods & Water National Monument. This IPA is using Maine-grown barley and wheat. Woods & Waters IPA pours light yellow with a two-finger white head. The aroma is clean, oniony, piney, and hoppy. The flavor is of pink grapefruit, melon, and pineapple. The taste is also of pine, light grass, and garlic/onion. This beer has a light mouthfeel. This IPA finishes with garlic and citrus/tropical fruits. There is bitterness in the finish. The aftertaste is less of that initial garlic, but it lingers a bit with a touch of bitterness and hoppieness. I found Wood & Waters IPA to be slightly different from the IPAs I’ve had recently. The garlic and onion flavors really add a great dimension to the fruitiness of this IPA. Woods & Water IPA is an A+ beer. I highly recommend it. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly!