It's Fall. Time for Oktoberfests, Harvest Ales and Pumpkin Beers. We're not doing any of them though. We sort of found that with the Oktoberfest (or Octoberfest) style they all seem to taste pretty much the same. This is not to say they are bad, just becomes sort of repetitive when reviewing them. Whereas IPAs, for example, have an enormous range of taste profiles depending upon a variety of factors: the hops used, the malt, the yeast, as well as the regional differences (East Coast vs. West Coast vs. British IPAs). There are also Red IPAs, Black IPAs, Session IPAs. You get the idea. And Pumpkin Ales? Well, personally, I love pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies. Pumpkin in my beer? Not so much. I've had a couple where the pumpkin spice is pretty subtle, so it's drinkable. But far too often the pumpkin flavor overpowers the taste of beer. After all, I drink beer because I like beer. I don't need to disguise the taste. Our nod to the proliferation of pumpkin everything is Sloop Brewing's (No) Pumpkin IPA.
We kick off our reviews this month with the appropriately named All My Friends Are Hopheads from Weird Window Brewery out of Burlington, Vermont. Including that beer, we review 4 Vermont beers. We also take a look at an all New York State brew from Ommegang, a big IPA from Sweetwater and an even bigger one from Sierra Nevada.
As a bonus, I'll give my thoughts on a beer from Grand Strand Brewing out of Myrtle Beach, SC. A good friend of mine gave me a couple of cans to try.
ALL MY FRIENDS ARE HOPHEADS
WEIRD WINDOW BREWERY
THE BEER FACTS: BREWER: Weird Window Brewing, Burlington, VT, STYLE: New England Double IPA; ABV: 8%
WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "Packed full of juicy and citrusy hops, this double IPA is like a mosh pit in your mouth. This beer isn't just one in a crowd."
COLOR: Blond
AROMA: Bit of citrus with notes of bread, yeast not generally associated with New Englands
BODY: Medium
TASTE: Very balanced with a noticeable alcohol presence along with notes of grapefruit
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: I Could Drink This!
COMMENTS: "Interesting - it doesn't look like a typical New England IPA, little bit of haze but not cloudy like many of them are now; You can taste the alcohol, which gives it a kind of fuller bodied taste than a lot of the New England IPAs also; Citrus didn't jump right out at you, but it is somewhat subtle; I like this, and definitely like the fact that it's not that kind of thick 'milkshake' style that has gotten popular."
THE DRAGONS OF EDEN
FOUR QUARTERS BREWING
THE BEER FACTS: BREWER: Four Quarters Brewing , Winooski, VT, STYLE: India Pale Ale; ABV: 7.6%; HOPS: Nelsoon Sauvin, Wai-iti, Rakau
WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "Our newest IPA showcasing New Zealand gems Nelson Sauvin, Wai-iti, and Rakau hops. Juicy and sweet, and bursting with tropical fruit aromas like mangoes and papaya, as well as apricot and other stone fruit. At 7.6% we put this right on the cusp of IPA/DIPA, certainly drinkable and also warming, perfect for this time of balance between Summer and Fall. You'll dig it."
COLOR: Hazy unfiltered wheat
POUR: Decent Head
AROMA: Tropical fruit, apricot
BODY: Medium
TASTE: Big tropical fruit - mango, papaya - as well as citrus notes
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: Between I Could Drink This and Can't Get Enough!
COMMENTS: "Cloudy beer that just tastes good; Not over-the-top cloudy; Starts sweet but ends with a pleasing bitterness; Delicious!; Definitely in the New England/East Coast style with the cloudiness and the tropical hops going for it; The higher ABV really helps kind of ground it, so it's not overly sweet or fruity."
HOPSTATE NEW YORK IPA
BREWERY OMMEGANG
THE BEER FACTS: BREWER: Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown, NY; STYLE: IPA; ABV: 7.4%; IBUs: 50; MALT: 2-row base malt, NY 2-row malt; HOPS: NY grown Chinook, Cascade, Nugget, Crystal, MI Copper, NY Rakau
WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: New York-grown hops and locally sourced two-row barley shine in this classic IPA, a toast to our Upstate home and its hop-growing history. We're proud to live and work on this land and are honored to celebrate it."
COLOR: Honey gold
POUR: Decent fluffy white head
AROMA: Citrus and floral
BODY: Medium
TASTE: Nice balance of grapefruit, pine and malt with a nice bitterness.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: Can't Get Enough!
COMMENTS: "This is such an easy-drinking IPA; More traditional West Coast using New York State hops and malt - kind of ironic in a way; Really smooth beer; Little bit of nuttiness to it; Maybe some of that Ommegang Belgian vibe really gives it a little different taste; Real nice beer."
FAIR MAIDEN IMPERIAL IPA
FOLEY BROTHERS BREWING
THE BEER FACTS: BREWER: Foley Brothers Brewing, Brandon, VT; STYLE: Imperial India Pale Ale; ABV: 8.2%; Hops from the US, New Zealand and Germany.
WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "A well balanced Double IPA brewed with seven hop varities from the USA, Germany, and New Zealand. Unfiltered with aromas of stonefruit, passionfruit and tangerine."
POUR: Decent 2 finger head
AROMA: Grassy, floral, tropical fruit
BODY: Between Medium and Full
TASTE: Tropical fruit, lemon, malt, alcohol, nice bitterness
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: Can't Get Enough!
COMMENTS: "They (Foley) make good beer - this is an exceptional one; Really tasty; Somewhat Westward leaning; Nice bitterness beneath it all; Terrific beer; It's one of those full-bodied, full-flavored beers where there's just a lot going on - stonefruit, tropical fruit, nice maltiness and the alcohol is there but sits nicely in the background."
(NO) PUMPKIN IPA
SLOOP BREWING
THE BEER FACTS: BREWER: Sloop Brewing Company, East Fishkill, NY: STYLE: IPA; ABV: 6%
WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "Hops, yeast, barley & water come together to make beautiful IPAs for real beer lovers. No nutmeg. No coriander. No pine trees. Just beautifully hazy IPAs."
COLOR: Hazy pale yellow-orange
POUR: Decent off white head
AROMA: Apricot, tropical fruit, slightly dank-ish
BODY: Medium
TASTE: Tropical fruit, some lemon, mango, pineapple, earthy, not much bitterness
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: Between I Could Drink This and Can't Get Enough!
COMMENTS: "Leave it to Ron to find a Pumpkin beer with no pumpkin! The best thing about this beer is that there is no pumpkin spice; Sloop is solid: This is just a nice New England IPA - with all that tropical fruit hop stuff going on that you expect from a NEIPA; Very nice beer, if a bit generic - they could brew this year-round with a different name! Got to admit, pretty clever name."
SWEETWATER 420 IMPERIAL IPA
SWEETWATER BREWING
THE BEER FACTS: BREWER: Sweetwater Brewing Company, Atlanta, GA; STYLE: Imperial IPA; ABV: 9.1%; IBUs: 60; MALT: 2-row Munich, C70/80, Midnight Wheat; HOPS: Centennial, Cascade, Columbus, Mosiac, Sultana - Dry Hop: Mosaic, Sultana, Lotus, Cascade
WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "A fresh take on ingredients from the original 420, this bold, flavor-packed new brother features a fresh combo of hops for added intensity and complexity, creating flavors and aromas of mango, peach, pineapple, citrus and pine. The result is a well-balanced Imperial IPA that's a super-tasty, higher ABV brew."
COLOR: Lightly hazed amber
AROMA: Sweet, caramel, candy aroma, with some citrus
BODY: Between Medium and Full
TASTE: Notes of citrus, peach, pine, with solid caramel malt taste underlying it all.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: Can't Get Enough
COMMENTS: "Dangerous beer - at 9.1% you don't notice the alcohol - very well hidden; Out-frigging-standing!; Real nice maltiness to it; Kind of old-school DIPA, I really like it.:
HOPTIMUM TRIPLE IPA
SIERRA NEVADA BREWING
THE BEER FACTS: BREWER: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Chico, CA, and Mills River, NC; STYLE: Triple IPA; ABV: 11%; IBUs: 75; MALTS: Carapils, Pilsner, Two-row Pale; HOPS: Chinook, Idaho 7, Magnum; YEAST: Ale Yeast
WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "Each year, we try to top ourselves by making the hoppiest most intense IPA we can muster. We sample endless hop varieties during the annual harvest to choose the ultimate mix - flavorful and aggressive, yet refined. Then we push them beyond their limits to reimagine Hoptimum, a remarkably drinkable triple IPA"
COLOR: Hazy copper, clover-honey
POUR: Slight cream colored head
AROMA: Caramel, sweet, some pine
BODY: Full bodied
TASTE: Citrus, Pine, caramel, alcohol with pleasing bitterness
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: Can't Get Enough (but be careful!)
COMMENTS: "Remain seated while drinking! Really a very good beer; Big full tilt IPA, I love it; It's a sipper for sure, but you can savor the flavor between sips - it lingers; I do like getting back to some of these that lean to the bitter side; Nice warming beer for sure."
FOCAL BANGER
ALCHEMIST BREWING
THE BEER FACTS: BREWER: The Alchemist Brewing, Stowe, VT; STYLE: American IPA ABV: 7%; MALTS: British; HOPS: Citra, Mosaic.
WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "Focal Banger is an American India Pale Ale. We have a real love for IPAs here at The Alchemist and we strive to offer you the best hop experience that we possibly can. The beer is brewed using Citra and Mosaic hops and our favorite British malts. Truly an abundance of malty goodness."
COLOR: Hazy unfiltered straw
POUR: Better that decent head
AROMA: Hay, grass, dank
BODY: Bit more than Medium
TASTE: Resinous, grapefruit, orange, a little pine, some maltiness and a pleasing bitter finish
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: Can't Get Enough!
COMMENTS: "I actually like this better than Heady, and I like Heady; Really good beer, another Vermont brewery that just does it right; It's got a nice cling-to-the-roof-of-the-mouth quality going; Yeah, nice initial taste and nice after-taste."
BONUS BEER
AIRBRUSH HAZY IPA
GRAND STRAND BREWING COMPANY, MYRTLE BEACH, SC
One of the great advantages of being known as somewhat of a Beer Nerd is that friends often are anxious to have you try something they found interesting. So recently a long-time friend of mine (we'll call him "Dan" mainly because that's his real name) brought me a couple of cans of this beer which he had discovered while at Myrtle Beach. Our friendship goes way back to high school days where we were in football together, band together and ran track together. We both were hurdlers and even composed a song called Hey Hurdlers. Sung to the tune of Hey Jude it was a paean to hurdlers with lyrics unfit for publication here - or probably anywhere (conceived in the puerile brains of hormone infused teenaged boys, you can, I'm sure, imagine the creative choices taken).
But I digress. Dan said he discovered Airbrush IPA and really liked and kindly brought me a couple to
try as a kind of birthday present while we busily lost huge quantities of golf balls on a leaf-strewn golf course in late October. Dan tends to lean toward the New England style IPA rather than West Coast. He doesn't care for the bitterness of some IPAs. I prefer the West Coast brews and seek out those with a nice bitter bite, though I also enjoy many NEIPAs as well. So I was both grateful because, well, free beer, and curious.
The beer clocks in a 6.5% - kind of the sweet spot for IPAs. It is hazy, as the name implies, and a light golden color. It pours with a decent white head that leaves some lacing as it dissipates. It has a subtle citrus aroma that is very inviting. The best way I can think of to describe the taste is smooth. It has that tropical fruit taste you expect from a NEIPA, but not overpowering. There is also a real nice maltiness that gives it a little more body than you often get with this style. And despite Dan's insistence that he doesn't care for bitterness, I found this beer to have a very pleasing bitter tang at the end.
Overall, I really liked this beer. In fact, I would go so far as to say it is one of the better NEIPAs I've had. It's nicely balanced and very drinkable.
Thanks Dan!
Sláinte,
The BOTB Guys
