IPA

This post was originally posted May 30, 2014. 

One of my favorite breweries in the world is Samuel Smith Brewery in (Tadcaster) N. Yorks, England. I have pretty much had all of they’re beer in the breweries lineup, and they are all great beers. But I found one from Samuel Smith’s that I’ve not had yet, India Ale (IPA). Like all Samuel Smith beers, this is Brewed with hard well water and fermented in ‘stone Yorkshire squares. Samuel Smith’s India Ale 5.0% ABV and an IBU of 46, pours a crisp coppery orange color with a big four finger white bubbly, rocky head that sticks around for quite a while before fading away slightly, leaving behind great strings of lacing around the glass. There is plenty of light coming through the glass with nice carbonation bubbles racing towards the white foamy head. The aroma in India Ale is lightly grassy with a slight malted scent and touches of some light tropical fruit. The taste is very low on hoppy flavor but there is a slight hop flavor present to let you know you are having an IPA. There is a nice small tropical fruit note here with a nice malt backbone to go right along with the faint grassy notes. The taste is much smoother than some American IPAs. The mouthfeel is light to almost medium. Samuel Smith’s India Ale finishes nice but dry and has a nice faintly grassy fruity aftertaste. Samuel Smith’s didn’t disappoint me with this India Ale at all, so Samuel Smith’s India Ale gets an A+ here. A solid smooth drinking English IPA, well balanced. Samuel Smith’s India Ale isn’t overwhelming in the hops department. I highly recommend this to anyone looking to try their first IPA or to anyone who likes beer. So please go out and try Samuel Smith’s India Ale and see what you think of it. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly! 

Another Foothills Brewing Craft Happiness Project IPA is upon us and this is Bookworm IPA, 6.3% ABV and 70 IBU (International Bittering Units). This Winston-Salem North Carolina IPA is helping out with literacy get people to read more. Bookworm pours a deep golden color with a three finger head and has a somewhat dry fruity aroma of pineapple, mango, grapefruit and slight blueberry with a slight dryness and an herbal note from the use of Eureka hops. Then the aroma leads into the taste of pineapple (from the Denali dry hopping) and some nice  grapefruit notes and very faint blueberry and a dryness on the back of the tongue. Bookworm finish slight dry and fruity with a nice dry grapefruit and pineapple aftertaste all with a medium mouthfeel. This Foothills Brewing Craft Happiness Project IPA taste slightly similar to a few of the others in this series but with a faint blueberry note, and with that being said, this Bookworm IPA is a an A-. A good beer something that I would have a again and one that I recommend to anyone that likes IPAs. Foothills Brewing does an amazing job with this series of IPAs and is a series of beer that is well with a try. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

This Coronado Brewing Co. Islander IPA, 7.0% I got through Brewpublik out of Coronado California, that is basically San Deigo. Islander IPA is brewed with a blend of Centennial, Chinook, and Columbus. Islander IPA pours a golden hue with two-finger white head giving off tropical fruit aromas with mango, pineapple a little apricot, that then gives you the taste of tropical mango, pineapple with some bits of apricot and grapefruit. You also will find a nice wash of pine hoppiness. Over this beer is pleasant and refreshing, it’s a B+ and something worth trying. I found it to be a tropical refresher with a nice balance of hoppy flavors without overpowering your taste buds. I would have Coronado Brewing Co. Islander IPA again. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!  

Foothills in Winston-Salem, North Carolina has another in their Crapt Happiness IPA Project, Clean IPA, 6.0% ABV and 55 IBUs. Clean IP is benefiting clean water. Clean IPA pours an orange color with a two finger big but thin white head giving you an orange/orange peel, citrus fruit, like grapefruit with piney, earthy and some hoppy aroma notes which lead into a similar taste. You get citrus fruits, earth hoped pine notes that are just enough and Clean IPA finishes nicely with a bit of with a bitter orange and grapefruit but the after taste halts quickly with a bitter citrus flavor. This beer is very easy to drink for an IPA and give this Clean IPA an A. Everytime I have one of these beers from Foothills brewing I can’t say enough good things about it. This is a good one that I recommend trying for yourself. It just the right amount of hoppy flavor. But not as bold as some of the others in this series which helps this beer to be an easier drinker. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!        

West coast and west coast-style IPA are probably one the most popular beer styles if not the most these days. Uinta Brewing Co. in Salt Lake City brews West Coast-Style IPA, 6.3% ABV, which is gluten-reduced. West Coast-Style IPA pours a golden orange color with a two and half finger white head giving off a dank resinous mango, grapefruit, and slight pineapple earthy aromas. Taste is loaded with hops, earthy dank resinous mango and grapefruit on the front and middle of the mouth and the back you get bitter earthy hoppy notes with some bitter grapefruit, that finishes hoppy with a few fruity notes and a bittering aftertaste that really coats your mouth. The mouth feel is medium with a bit of a full hop flavor. I don’t think your taste buds could handle more than two of those before the hoppy flavor becomes overwhelming.Uinta Brewing Co. West Coast-Style IPA is a solid B. It’s definitely a west coast-style IPA and is pretty good. It’s fruity hoppy and balanced drinking IPA. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!         

There isn’t enough session or sessionalbe beer out there, and I think there should be. Not every beer needs to have big bold flavor with a high ABV percent. Sometimes you want something a bit lighter with low ABV. Melee Session India Pale Ale5.2% ABV and 35 IBUs from Champion Brewing Company in Charlottesville Virgina is a lighter take on the IPA style which can range anywhere from lighter hoppy and bitter all the way to extremely harsh and bitter with loads of in your face hops that destroy your taste buds. Melee IPA pours a clean yellow color with a two finger quickly fleeting head that leaves nearly nothing behind, giving off light grapefruit notes. Male is brewed with Citra and Amarillo hops. So you do get toned down citrus notes upfront with a little bitterness in the middle of the mouth with bitter orange grapefruit in the back that finishes crisp with little bit of citrus bitter hops. Aftertaste is pretty tame with faint bitter citrus notes. Nothing on this beer is really memorable, it’s not bad Champion Brewing Company Melee Session India Pale Ale is a C+. Yes, it is sessionable, refreshing and easy to drink but the flavor is overly or too sessionable. This drinks more like a slightly hoppy pilsner than an IPA. But you can taste that this is a session IPA to much so.  Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

I haven’t had too much from Epic Brewing out in Denver Colorado nor do I hear a lot about them, but what I do hear is things about their Brainless series and their Big Bad Baptist Stout. No, I don’t have any of those, I have Escape To Colorado IPA, 6.2% ABV. Escape To Colorado is brewed Mosaic hops and pouts a light yellow color with a two finger white head that sticks for a little bit then slowly fades into some nice decent lacing. The aroma is of lemon, lemon grass, hops with some faint sweetness. This aroma draws you in and brings you to a taste of slightly sweet lemon, lemon grass up front with a hop bitter lemon in the middle with a little more hop flavor on the back of the mouth with a hoppy yet smooth bitter finish and a nice semi-sweet hoppy aftertaste. The mouth feel is on the lighter side of the medium scale. This Epic Brewing IPA is good, A- good. After about three or four I think the flavor might be a bit much but still, you could drink three or four. I like out it finishes on the smoother side for an IPA with a huge kick in the gut of hoppy intense flavor.  I recommend Epic Brewing Company Escape To Colorado IPA. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!  

I have another Foothills Brewing Craft Happiness Project Beer, Move IPA, 6.3% ABV and 60 IBUs (International Bittering Units). This Beer is helping people move and be active, because almost 30% of us qualify as inactive, and only one out of three adults get their recommend amount of physical activity a week. Move IPA pours a deep gold color with a foamy three finger white head with excellent retention, giving off aromas of resin grapefruit with piney earthy hop notes. Movie IPA has a slight bitter flavor up front with some resin grapefruit in the middle of the mouth then come a earthy pine note with some more hop bitterness toward the back. The finish is slightly fruity with citrus notes and some hop notes and you get a juicy bitter after taste. The mouth feel is medium on Move IPA. This is just like all of the other beer in this series, great and I give Foothills Brewing Craft Happiness Project Move IPA an A-. This IPA has just balanced flavors throughout and has great flavors that do not overwhelm your taste buds. This is one that I would suggest trying. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!