IPA

Here is yet another version of Ballast Point Brewing Sculpin IPA this is Aloha Sculpin, 7.0% ABV a hazy India Pale Ale brewed with Brux Trois Yeast which is a Northeastern IPA yeast. Aloha Sculpin pours a Hazy orange color with a rocky three finger white slowly fading head that gives off tropical aromas of melon, pineapple with a bit of mango with a nice bitters that flows into a slightly similar taste if bitter topical pineapple, melon, mango that grows in bitterness as it washes over the middle of tongue and splashes on the back of the mouth with a hop bitterness and finishes with a nice bitter tropical note and an aftertaste of topical island fruits with nice bitterness of hop flavor all with a medium/full mouthfeel. Aloha Sculpin is a tasty fruity beer overall which earns it a B. This is not a tropical fruit salad it’s close to that but mild with a nice bitterness as well as good refreshing qualities. I recommend Ballast Point Brewing Aloha Sculpin. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

New distribution to the Carolina area Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Easy Jack IPA, 4.5% ABV from Paso Robles, California is brewed with a selection of new hop varieties from Europe, New Zealand and North America. Easy Jack pours a golden color with fluffy white three finger slowly fading head with aromas of light citrusy hop notes with light bitterness that lead you into a crisp citrusy fruit flavor that is hoppy with a mild bitterness that carries over the back of the tongue finishing with a citrus bitterness that’s refreshing with a fruity bitter aftertaste with a light mouthfeel. The name says it all, this is one Easy IPA, it goes down easy, smooth and refreshing. I give Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Easy Jack IPA an A+. This is a great IPA with easy flavors that a very well balanced as well as refreshing. I highly recommend Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Easy Jack IPA. This is an IPA you can have a few without the flavor overwhelming your taste buds. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

This Birdsong Brewing Co., Turn to Stone IPA part of the brewery’s IPA Series was a brewery only release, so I went to the Birdsong Brewery to purchase it. Turn to Stone IPA is brewed with an entirely new species of hop called Medusa. This hop is called Medusa due to the fact that is has multiple cones on it like the many snakes of Medusas hair. Turn to Stone IPA also has a simple malt bill tho really let the Medusa hop shine. Turn to Stone IPA pours a yellow gold color with three finger bright white head that slowly fades into nice lacing giving off tropical aromas of melon and guava with a nice bitter scent that takes you into a tropical bitter melon guava flavor that hits the front of your taste buds and a nice hoppy flavor that washes from the front hitting the back of your tongue with a tropical bitter finish with an a hoppy yet faint fruit flavored aftertaste with. A nice medium mouthfeel that coats your tongue with fruit. Birdsong Brewing Co, Turn to Stone IPA tastes as interesting as it sounds and one that I recommend that you try. I give Turn to Stone IPA a B+. It’s well brewed with a new interesting hop verity that makes for as wonderful flavor with out overpowering you mouth with bitter hops. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

 

Stone Brewing of Escondido California brews so many different IPA and this Tangerine Express IPA, 6.7% ABV follow an IPA trend of citrus/tropical forward IPAs and it’s packed with whole tangerines and pineapples. Tangerine Express pours yellow with a slightly hazy appearance and a two finger white steady fading head that gives off citrus aromas of tangerine and pineapple bitter notes with a flavor or citrus tangerine, tropical pineapple hitting your tongue with a hoppy bitterness washing over to the back of the tongue with a fruity bitter finish and semi bittersweet aftertaste that linger for just moment all with a medium mouthfeel. Stone Brewing has made a good tasty IPA with Tangerine Express IPA it’s an A. All of the flavors of Tangerine Express IPA blend well to make for a good refreshing IPA that is full of good citrus/tropical fruit flavors with the right amount of bitter hoppiness. Tangerine Express IPA is a beer that I recommend. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!      

 

 

Another IPA here and this Stone Brewing Delicious IPA, 7.7% ABV is brewed with Lemondrop and El Dorado Hop in Escondido California. Delicious IPA pours a clear golden yellow color with an almost two finger white head with a slight/faint lemon aroma wafting to your nose with some bitterness that takes you into a faint lemon taste with a bit of citrus flavor in the middle and a bitter bite on the back of the mouth with more alcoholic bitter finish, and a light lemon aftertaste with a thin to almost medium mouthfeel  Overall the flavor of Delicious IPA is thin with more of an alcoholic flavor as it warms. I give Stone Brewing Delicious IPA a C-. Wasn’t what I call so delicious as the label might suggest, but wasn’t terrible. I wouldn’t have this beer again soon as I don’t recommend this Stone Brewing Delicious IPA. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!      

Hazy unfiltered IPAs are quite popular with many craft breweries brewing them and Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Hazy Little Thing IPA, 6.7% ABV is one IPA that is following the popular trend. Hazy Little Thing IPA pours a hazy yellow with a two finger white fizzy head that gives you orange juice aromas with some bitter notes and flavor of bitter orange juice and a little passion fruit towards the back of the tongue with a juicy bitter finish and a fruit juicy aftertaste with a slight bitterness all with a light mouthfeel. Hazy Little Thing IPA drinks very easy, especially with an ABV of 6.7%. Hazy Little Thing IPA is a great tasting beer that is well deserving of an A+ and a beer that I highly recommend. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!   

This local beer, The Unknown Brewing Co. Scratch N Sniff India Pale Ale, 4.7% ABV which is brewed here locally in Charlotte North Carolina is riding the wave of popularity with the IPA, sounds like it was named after those stickers you got as a child that you thought was cool.  Scratch N Sniff India Pale Ale pours a hazy light orange color with a two finger head that does fade rather quickly into itself giving off an aroma of big bitter grapefruit with some earthy notes that give you a juicy grapefruit bitterness with some other faint citrus notes that have a little earthy piney quality to them with a juicy bitter finish and a nice semi-sweet citrus bitter aftertaste with a light mouthfeel. The Unknown Brewing Co. Scratch N Sniff India Pale Ale is an easy drinking IPA that is good A+ good and one that I highly recommend trying. It has a fruity quality to it that is juicy and quite refreshing and none too strong on the alcohol. Scratch N Sniff India Pale Ale is tasty! Cheers! Please Enjoy Responsibly!     

Sycamore Brewing First Clouds India Pale Ale, 7.9% brewed locally in Charlotte, North Carolina is brewed with Moutree and Centennial hops and pours an orange color that is has a little yellow hue to it with a four finger white billowy head giving off a slight sour tropical fruit note with some bitter earthy notes that give you taste flavors earthy tropical fruit that tastes like the fruits are starting to go bad with a bitter piney earthy note with a hint of sourness with a bitter finish that is a bit awful with some slight yet faint spiced notes and an aftertaste of off fruit flavors and bitter sour notes with a light mouthfeel. I am not a fan of this or Sycamore as a whole so I give this a D-. It was finishable which I did but left me feeling like made a bad decision. I didn’t get any good tropical fruit flavors on this, and yes I like that in an IPA, but I did get bad tasting fruit. So I don’t recommend Sycamore Brewing First Clouds India Pale Ale. Cheers! please enjoy responsibly!   

Holy City Brewing (Charleston, South Carolina), Paradise Session India Pale Ale, 4.7% ABV is brewed with Citra and Mosaic hops and to celebrate the prevention of drilling of the South Carolina Coast and support The Coastal Conservation League. Paradise pours a hazy yellow color with a thin two finger white head that fades into itself in a rapid manner giving off aromas of tropical sweet fruits with a nice nostril smack of bitterness with a little floral aroma that leads you to the sip of tropical fruit flavors with a nice serge of bitter floral notes that are semi-sweet that all come together to a bitter tropical finish that is a bit smooth and an aftertaste of bitter tropical fruit and floral notes with a thin dry like mouthfeel. Overall Paradise Session India Pale Ale wasn’t bad but I found the flavor to be just a tiny bit over what I would call a sessionable flavor and that gives it a C+. I mean I could probably drink three and then I would be tired of the flavor of this beer. But the flavor is spot on for a more tropical IPA and I would recommend it to anyone especially in the summertime. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!