IPA

Wooden Robot Brewery Droppin’ Paradigms Juicy IPA, 7.2% brewed locally here in Charlotte, North Carolins with local malts, flaked oats, Centennial, Galaxy, Mosiac hops, fermented with Norwegian Kveik yeast strain, and using an aging method of stainless. Droppin’ Paradigms pours a yellow light golden/copper color with two-finger steady white head with aromas of semi-sweet fruity malt noted. Taste is juicy with light bitterness with fruity notes with a slight sour floral note on the end that had a dry bitter finish with a dry bitter fruit aftertaste. That strange sour floral note is not great, Wooden Robot Brewery Droppin’ Paradigms Juicy IPA gets a low C grade. The fruit flavors are okay and do hold it Droppin’ Paradigms up a bit, but I don’t think I will be going back for this soon and that is not an easy thing to say about a Wooden Robot Brewery beer they usually brew good solid beers. Droppin’ Paradigms Juicy IPA was a little off the mark. Maybe without the Norwegian Kveik, it might be better but then again I didn’t hate Wooden Robot Brewery Droppin’ Paradigms Juicy IPA, but I wouldn’t really recommend that you run out for this beer either. please stay safe and please enjoy responsibly! Cheers!  

Originally posted December, 21st, 2015.

Well here is yet another IPA surprise! Yes, there are probably a lot of IPA reviews on here since I’ve started The Best Beer Blog IPAs have grown on me, and I enjoy them more than I used to. Here is a Foothills brewed IPA, and no it isn’t the IPA of the Month, spoiler alert that is coming real soon. Anyhow this foothills IPA in question is Jade IPA, 7.4% ABV with 86 IBU (International Bittering Unit). Jade is named after the Jade hop which is found in the orient, is that name still used these days, well Jade hops are in the Pacific area of the globe and have striking tropical fruit notes. That makes sense for a Pacific hop. Foothills also dry hops additions of Chinook and Citra hops. Jade IPA pours a beautiful golden color with a two-finger white head that sticks around for a bit before fizzing away. The aroma is yes tropical with pineapple, mango with earthy notes, and bits of orange from the Citra hops. The taste is hoppy with tropical notes of pineapple, mango orange with earthy hope notes, and a slight bitter kiwi that is faint at best. Jade IPA is strongly hoppy but still easy drinking. You have to see past the bold hoppy bitter flavor and really taste the fruity elements to this IPA. Well, you should drink any or most IPAs that way to enjoy them. The mouthfeel is on the higher side of light barely hitting a medium mouthfeel and has a nice bitter tropical peppery finish that gives way to a bigger bitter hop after taste with some orange and less of a topical fruitiness. This is a hit in my book, YES! I give this an A. The big hoppiness that Jade has is complemented by the tropical and citrus flavor that mingle well together to give way to a great IPA that has a big IBU but does not drink like it. I think that you should try Foothills Jade IPA! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly! Happy Holidays!

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, 60 Minute IPA, 6% ABV with 60 IBUs (International Bittering Units) from Milton, Delaware is their east coast IPA continually hopped with a slew of northwest hops throughout the entire boil acourding to their can. 60 Minute IPA was originally released back in 2003, seventeen years ago & uses a foot-ball-machine-turned-continual-hopper and their addition of equal increments throughout the entire boil. 60 Minute IPA is a classic flagship Dogfish Head beer and can be found pretty much anywhere beer is served and/or sold. 60 Minute IPA pours a bit of a deep yellow near golden copper color with a barely two finger quicky fading white head that gives off a slightly piney citrus note with a bitterness to it that pretty much smells like a typical IPA. The taste is bitter at first with a citrus fruit note that follows with a hoppy slightly piney hoppy note hitting the back of the tongue and carrying into the finish with a little more citrus that has a bitter bite and a bitter citrusy aftertaste that does linger for a little while before fading into bitterness for just a second with a lighter mouthfeel. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, 60 Minute IPA is not bad but I found it to be just another IPA, and maybe that is what Dogfish Head is going for with it. But I give 60 Minute IPA a C+. It is and IPA that is, in my opinion, it’s the middle of the road and something that you can drink without having an assault on your taste buds, and I would just barely recommend it. It’s not a bad IPA, it’s just above average. Please stay safe and please enjoy responsibily! Cheers!

Burial Beer Rationality Shall Run Its Course, 7.5% ABV with 40 IBU (International Bittering Units) is brewed in Asheville North Carolina with Amarillo Cryo, Cashmere, Citra Cryo, El Dorado, Galaxy, Mosaic, Riwaka, Simcoe hops and with Lactose. This is a one-off beer that you probably will not see again once it all gone. Rationality Shall Run Its Course purchased from Pop The Top Craft Beer Shop here in Charlotte, North Carolina pours a bright hazed yellow, orange juice color with a one and a quarter fluffy white slow fading head. Rationality Shall Run Its Course gives off a nice sweet juicy fruited aroma of some tropical pineapple, light mango, light orange, and grapefruit with some interesting grass note wafting in. Taste is somewhat similar to its own aroma, I found it to be juicy, fruity, I found some nice sweet pineapple, light mango, grapefruit, some orange with a nice lower bitter hoppy note that has a little grassy flavor to that I found hanging out on the rear of my tongue that had a strong finish with nice fruitiness, with yet a light sweetness and a light bittersweet fruit aftertaste with a very faint grassy note. Burial Beer Rationality Shall Run Its Course was a big beer with a lot of hop verities that are on the stronger side of the IPA spectrum and the aftertaste was a tad stronger than everything else giving Burial Beer Rationality Shall Run Its Course an A-, everything else about this IPA was great, but on a side note more that one is a little questionable, I might have gotten through a pint and a quarter or half but not so much as two pints, the flavor would by the end of said second pint maybe be to much on your tastebud, but not terrible. I do however recommend Burial Beer Rationality Shall Run Its Course. Please stay safe at home and please enjoy resposibly Cheers! 

Brewed with six hop varietals from around the world and brewed in Charlotte, North Carolina Sycamore Brewing Rainbow Dust India Pale Ale, 7.1% ABV, which was gifted to me through a family members co-worker. Rainbow Dust pours an orange color, with sediment and a two-finger white head that fades and a steady pace that gives off a tropical fruit aroma, bits of pineapple, mango, and melons. This IPA smells inviting and when I took the first sip I found that tropical fruit some pineapple on the front of the tongue with mango on the middle with tiny bits of melon that grown on the back of the mouth with some nice average bitter hoppy notes that have nice bitter tropical finish and a hoppy slightly fruity aftertaste the hoppy notes slightly overtook the fruit flavors there, with a medium mouthfeel. I am usually not a fan of Sycamore Brewing, I find they’re beer to be just below average but Rainbow Dust India Pale Ale was not bad but I have a better tropical tasting IPA and I give this a C+. It has good tropical flavors but they are just right above average, nothing really to rant and rave about. I would have this again I mean it’s just a nice average example of a tropical IPA nothing more. Please stay safe at home and please enjoy responsibly! Cheers!