IPA

If you mention Deschutes Brewery Fresh Squeezed IPA to any craft beer fan, they’ve had it. It is a widely known IPA from Bend, Oregon. I’ve had it once or twice. But I have not reviewed it. That is, until now. This year-round IPA is 6.4% ABV with Premium 2-row malt, Munich malt, and Crystal 75 Malt. It has hops such as Mosaic and Citra. This beer pours a light copper with a two-finger white billowing head. The aroma is light with pine and citrus sweetness. The flavor is bitter, with juicy citrus notes. The mouthfeel is medium. It has a bitter, fruity finish that fades. The aftertaste is bitter citrus that lingers for a second or two before fading. I see why Fresh Squeezed IPA is popular. I would give this IPA an A-. This beer should have more juicy fruit flavors. I would like more. But I’d still recommend Deschutes Fresh Squeezed IPA. I would go back for more. Please stay, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

I have never heard of Zero Gravity Craft Brewing from Burlington, Vermont. So I purchased Duck, Duck Juicy IPA. This IPA is 7% ABV, brewed year-round with Rahr Pilsner and rolled oat malts. They also use HBC 586, Talus, Mosaic, CP Mango hops, and house ale yeast. This IPA pours a hazy blonde with a three-finger white head. Slow head retention here. The aroma is fruity, juicy, and bitter. The flavor is juicy fruit, light berry, and bitterness. This IPA has a medium mouthfeel. The finish is less fruity and still as bitter. The aftertaste is berry and bitter, but it doesn’t linger long. Overall, Duck, Duck Juicy is a good, solid IPA. It’s an A and makes me want to try more of their beers, which my local Whole Foods stocks. I do recommend you drink this. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

This beer, purchased from World Market, is another Birrificio Baladin beer from Piozzo, Italy. This is L’IPPA, a traditional 5.5% IPA. I have been to their brewpub in Rome, which I recommend visiting. This IPA uses Water from the Maritime Alps, Barley malt from our fields in Basilicata and Apulia, Italy. The hops come from our fields in Piozzo and Busca, and the yeast is made in the Piozzo brewery. This IPA pours deep orange with a two-finger white head. The aroma is orange, bitter, sweet, and light yeast. The flavor is Tangerine, orange, light melon, light mango, and bitterness. I didn’t really get any sweet notes. This beer has a medium mouthfeel. Then it has a bitter fruit finish and a slightly strange off-flavor. The aftertaste is citrusy fruit and bitterness that doesn’t linger long. This is an above-average IPA. It’s a C+. The weird finish doesn’t make the beer terrible overall. I can’t say I would or wouldn’t recommend this. It’s just a little above average. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

It’s been a while since I’ve had and reviewed a Burial Beer IPA. I have been trying and reviewing their non-IPA beers. But I thought it was time for one of their IPAs. This one is Enlightened Aren’t We All. It is 7.2% and made with oats and wheat. It’s whirlpool-hopped with Mosaic, Incognito, and hand-selected Mosaic Cryo. This IPA is also dry-hopped with 3 different kinds of hand-selected Mosaic hops grown in Oregon’s Lakeside Ranch and in Idaho at Central Cove. Burial usually does a lot to make an IPA. This beer pours a hazy yellow with a two-finger white head. The aroma is fruity and hoppy. There are light wheat aromas with some piney notes. The flavor is juicy fruit, pine, and light wheat. It has a nice hoppy taste. The mouthfeel is medium. This IPA has a bitter and fruity finish. The aftertaste is faint wheat and a nice piney/fruity flavor. This is a good beer, and a lot went into it. I give Enlighten Aren’t We All an A. As I drank this, I thought it was a B+. But that went up while writing. This IPA has good flavors that all come together for a delicious IPA that is worth drinking! Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Whenever I see a Royal Bliss Brewing Co. beer, I usually buy it. Recently, I spotted Lord of the Hops New Zealand IPA while shopping at my local Total Wine. This 6.6% IPA uses Nectaron hops. This hop was developed over 17 years by Plant and Food Research; it is widely used in IPAs, NEIPAs, and Pale Ales. This New Zealand hop has notes of bold, juicy pineapple, passion fruit, peach, and grapefruit. This IPA pours a light golden yellow with a one-finger white head. The aroma is lightly grassy, grapefruit, light tropical fruit bitterness, and hoppy notes. The flavor is bitter and hoppy. There is grapefruit, passion fruit, and smoothness. This beer has a medium mouthfeel. Then this IPA finishes with fruitiness, bitterness, and some light herbal notes. The aftertaste is lighter on the grapefruit and passion fruit as it fades. There is some lingering bitterness. This is a good beer. Lord of the Hops New Zealand IPA is a B. I thought going into this beer that there would be more of a bold tropical fruit flavor to this. But that was decent. It did have a good amount of bitter hop flavor. I recommend you try Royal Bliss Brewing Co. Lord of the Hops New Zealand IPA. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

I saw a can of Birdsong Brewing Co. Sweet Dreams IPA and thought it looked cool. This IPA is 6.2% ABV and has 2-Row, White Wheat, Caravienne 20L, and light Munich. This beer uses hops such as Citra, El Dorado, and Cascade. This limited release is available from March through April. This IPA pours orange with a one-finger slow white head. The aroma is citrus (blood orange), bitter, and hoppy. The flavor is bitter, hoppy, blood orange, and slightly malty. This has a medium mouthfeel. This beer finishes bitter, with blood orange and light malts. The blood orange bitterness lingers in the aftertaste. This had a slightly thicker feeling. I give Sweet Dreams IPA a D+. I didn’t like this beer, but I did finish a pint. I usually like blood orange, and that flavor of this beer wasn’t bad. That helped just a little. I would say this isn’t good beer overall. It’s good that this IPA is only around for a month. I will not have this one again. Birdsong Brewing Co. is still good in my book, not with this beer. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!