IPA

Local Charlotte, North Carolina NoDa Brewing Company, Hoppy Holidays, 6.5% ABV which was purchased from the local Harris Teeter grocery. Hoppy Holidays which is a holiday seasonal beer is brewed to give you the flavor of a pine or Christmas tree, and pours a light copper color with a three finger slightly off white slow head giving off huge piney aromas with orange/grapefruit bitterness that leads you to a flavors big piney notes with a slight sweetness with some bitter grapefruit citrus with a nice pine finish and a citrus piney aftertaste with a medium mouthfeel. This ways surprising how NoDa got Hoppy Holidays to taste like a Christmas tree and that is good, I think it is an A. But one pint is enough because if another is had the big piney flavor overwhelms the mouth and all you’d taste after would be this otherwise fabulous beer, and one that I highly recommend trying! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Coming out of Mt. Pleasant South Carolina Westbrook Brewing Co. IPA, 6.8% ABV which I picked up from the local grocery store is brewed with a base of pale, Munich, and Caraplis malts and blended with different American hop varieties and added four times in the kettle and again in the fermentor. Westbrook Brewing Co. IPA pours a slightly darker yellow color with an almost two finger slow white head with fruity sweet and slightly bitter juiciness aromas wafting in to your nose that then take you to a semi-sweet fruit juice flavor with a nice pungent hoppy bitterness that lingers into a bitter finish with a light juicy fruit and a hoppy fruited aftertaste with a lighter mouthfeel that is a bit refreshing. Westbrook Brewing Co. IPA is a well balanced IPA and gets an A-, the hoppy bitter flavors start to get to be slightly too much at the very end, but that just barely holds an otherwise good India Pale Ale, one that I recommend that you try! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly

From one of my favorite local breweries, this is Sugar Brewing Company IPA, 6.7% ABV brewed here in Charlotte, North Carolina. Sugar Creek Brewing Company usual brews Belgian Style ales but this is a normal non Belgian IPA that pours an orange color with a two finger white slow fading head that fades cleanly giving off an aroma of dank grapefruit with a resin piney note that is on the earthy slide that then takes you to a taste of more resin pine grapefruit a earthy bitterness that finishes with a bitterness that is onion-like and a bitter clean aftertaste with a medium mouthfeel. This is an okay IPA not bad, its at least a B. It has a normal IPA taste with nothing really standing out or anything that is underwhelming. I enjoyed this Sugar Creek Brewing Company IPA and yes I recommend it. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Picked up this can of NoDa Brewing Company Corn Star Southeastern India Pale Ale, 5.0% ABV in a four-pack a few days away for my local grocery store. Corn Star is brewed with flaked corn, Amarillo, Eureka, Ekuanot, and El Dorado hops. Corn Star pours a gold color with a three finger head that fades quickly down to two fingers before slowly settling in and sticking around to give you aromas of semi-sweet notes with some hoppy notes mixed in that take you to a big smooth flavor of some bitterness with hints os semi-sweetness with a somewhat smooth bitterness on the ends that finishes with a familiar smooth bitterness with a little sweet touch and an big bitter sweet hoppy aftertaste that lingers all with a light mouthfeel. I did not find NoDa Brewing Company Corn Star Southeastern India Pale Ale to be anything out of the ordinary it was average at best, so I give it a D+. It was more bitter and hoppy than crisp or sweetly smooth. I was able to finish a pint of Corn Star and found it not to be the worst IPA I’ve had, but it’s far from the good or the best. You could try it for yourself and see what you think but I would not really recommend it. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

I saw NoDa Brewing Co. Dreamsicle, India Pale Ale, 7.0% in my local grocery store and picked up a four pack. This is a local west coast style IPA from Charlotte, North Carolina and is brewed with Amarillo, Centennial, and Citra hops with a little sweetness of vanilla beans and orange peel. Dreamsicle pours a light copper color with a billowy three finger fluffy white head that leave nice lacing behind with an aroma of west coast fruit flavors with a subtle yet faint sweet note that carries you into a light yet faint sweet fruited flavor with nice west coast tropical fruits like mango and pineapple with citrus orange and little bit of grapefruit with nice hoppy noted on the back with a hoppy yet smooth fruity finish and a mild hoppy semi-sweet aftertaste with a somewhat medium mouthfeel. NoDa Brewing Co. Dreamsicle, India Pale Ale is a good beer but I didn’t get much vanilla sweetness that I was hoping for so I give this IPA a B+. NoDa Brewing Co. Dreamsicle, India Pale Ale was taste and fruit with the right amount of hop notes but would have liked more vanilla beans. Would I have this again? In a heartbeat and so should you! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Central State Brewing Oatsplosion India Pale Ale , 6.5% ABV I picked up from Pop the Top Craft Beer Shop here in Charlotte, NC. This is an IPA brewed with oats and is the first oat IPA I’ve ever had. I don’t see many oat IPA out there but there are a few like on Oatsmobile from Bells Brewery, which I’ve not yet had. Oatsplosion pours a bight yellow color that is similar to a Pilsner with a three and a half finger white slow head that leave behind decent lacing giving off a sweet citrusy aroma with a bit a juicy note that take you into a smooth sweet fruity juicy flavor of citrus fruits, orange, and grapefruit with a mild hoppy not on the end with a smooth finish with touches of hoppy fruit sweetness and a smooth semi-sweet mild hop aftertaste with a smooth light mouthfeel. Overall Central State Brewing Oatsplosion is a great IPA with a nice smooth light sweetness with the right amount of Citra hop flavors to really make it good and deservingly an A+. I highly recommend Central State Brewing Oatsplosion India Pale Ale and will have this again.

This new year-round offering from Stone Brewing in Escondido California, Scorpion Bowl IPA, 7.5% is a tropical IPA using hops to create a tropical fruit flavor without any addition of tropical fruits. Scorpion Bowl pours a dark yellow color with a big four finger white head with great retention that leaves behind nice lacing throughout giving your senses a tropical fruit aroma with bitter/hoppy notes that take you into a semi-sweet tropical flavors, mango, pineapple, and some guava with old-school IPA bitterness with that familiar hoppy note towards the back of your tongue with a bitter tropical finish and a very smile at aftertaste of bitterness and tropical fruits with a medium mouthfeel. Stone Brewing Scorpion Bowl IPA is pretty well brewed and getting an A-. Just a little off the perfect mark due to the tropical flavors could be slightly bolder and more pronounced, but they were good as was the fact that Stone gave me a tropical flavor by just brewing with hops. I recommend Stone Brewing Scorpion Bowl IPA. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Revelry Brewing from Charleston, South Carolina is now being distributed here in Charlotte and other places in North Carolina. I picked up Lefty Loosey India Pale Ale, 7.0% ABV from The Good Bottle Co, and Lefty Loosey is in the west coast style. Lefty Loosey pours an Orange color with a trio finer tight white head with some good retention giving off aromas of nice clean grapefruit with some hints of bitter orange that takes you into a flavor of nice grapefruit with a light bitter orange notes that has a nice hop flavor to it with a nice smooth but citrus bitter finish and an aftertaste of nice hoppy bitterness with touches of citrus fruits with a light mouthfeel. Revelry Brewing Lefty Loosey India Pale Ale is a great easy drinking IPA that is well deserving of an A+. Not one of the flavor overpower you palate. I think that Lefty Loosey is an IPA that you can have more than just a few without wrecking you palate. I highly recommend Lefty Loosey India Pale Ale. It is highly tasty beer! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!