New England Style IPAs

SUPER BEER

All great super heroes have an origin story: Superman came from Krypton, Bruce Wayne's parents are brutally murdered in front of him, Spider-Man is bitten by a radioactive spider (well, technically, Peter Parker is, but you get the idea). In much the same way, the India Pale Ale (IPA) style of beer (the superman of beers in my humble opinion) also has an origin story which, by now, any self-respecting beer geek is familiar with: basically the style was developed in England (not India) as a beer that would survive the long boat trip to India from Britain without getting skunked, so that the British officers stationed there could enjoy good beer. The regular soldiers could have the skunky beer - after all, rank has its privileges, and the privileged don't have to have the rank (beer, that is). The beer was a bit higher in alcohol and considerably hoppier, both of which helped to preserve the beer. 

Fast-forward to modern times and the Great Craft Beer Revolution which began in the US. As brewers experimented with various beer styles, IPAs came back into vogue to become one of the more popular styles of craft beer. Craft brewers are nothing if not experimenters and they have continued to tweak and play with IPAs. As a result, we have not only the venerable West Coast IPA, but such variations as Black IPAs, Red IPAs, White IPAs, Belgian IPAs, Pineapple IPAs, Blood Orange IPAs, Double IPAs, Imperial IPAs as well as IPLs (India Pale Lagers). A growing style of IPA is the one we look at this month: New England IPAs (or Northeast IPA). 

So what is the difference between a West Coast IPA (sort of the American classic IPA, if you will) and a New England IPA? Both are hop-forward beers, after all. The truth is there is not really a clear distinction, but in general the New England IPA is usually unfiltered, utilizes hops that are more floral and citrusy and has a mild malt profile while the West Coast version has a bit more malt and relies on hops with piney and resinous notes. Often New England IPAs are a somewhat less bitter than their West Coast cousin. in fact many iterations have very low IBUs.

Having said that, the distinctions are becoming more and more blurred. Sometimes it's merely a geographical thing. The classic New England style was popularized by Heady Topper, a legendary Vermont beer so prized that stores often have to limit the number of 4-packs a customer can purchase. We have reviewed Heady Topper  in the past (you can read it here)so we did not review it this month. But we did find a number of great beers claiming to be New England Style. Our humble opinions follow. 

NEW ENGLAND PALE

EASTWOOD BREWING COMPANY

THE BEER FACTS: STYLE: New England Style IPA; BREWER: Eastwood Brewing Company, Syracuse, NY; ABV: 5.0%

COLOR: Very unfiltered apricot, almost orange

POUR: Somewhat decent head, not overpowering

AROMA: Big citrus aroma

BODY: Medium bodied

TASTE: Kind of sweet citrus up front with hoppy bitterness to follow. Big tropical fruit taste with hints of mango and papaya.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: Near "Can't Get Enough!"

COMMENTS: "Tropical fruit - tastes like a dollop of honey in there; Sweet on the front; Real nice summer lawn mower beer; Like the best pale ale you've ever had; Nice hops presence; Doesn't give up the bitterness, although sweet up front; Tastes better than it looks; I'm guessing this is a high fiber beer, high pulp; Really has a wonderful taste, real summery vibe to it; With that orange color, this should be the official beer of the Syracuse Orange."

ONE HOP THIS TIME

NIGHT SHIFT BREWING

THE BEER FACTS: STYLE: Northeast Style IPA; BREWER: Night Shift Brewing, Everett, MA; ABV: 6.0%; HOPS: Aztecca only

WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "One Hop This Time is a series of IPAs using a single hop each time."

COLOR: Wheat, lemongrass

POUR: Decent, long-lasting head

AROMA: Not a strong aroma but some pine and tropical fruit

BODY: Medium

TASTE: Smooth, piney, dank

OVERALL IMPRESSION: I Could Drink This!

COMMENTS: "Light tasting; Would go well with pizza; Would go well with another one; Good summer beer; Boat beer; Kind of reminds me of a shandy"

CLARITY IN THE FLX
NAKED DOVE BREWING

THE BEER FACTS: STYLE: New England Style IPA; BREWER: Naked Dove Brewing, Canandagua, NY; ABV: 6.2%; MALT: Oats; HOPS: Pekko and Azacca.

WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "This is our first attempt at a New England Style IPA. Brewed with oats and Pekko and Azacca hops."

COLOR: Clover honey -  not really unfiltered though

POUR: Near Guinness class head with lots of lacing

AROMA: Bread, grassy, piney, bit of grapefruit

BODY: Medium

TASTE: Grapefruit, grassy, herbal, with a backend bitterness

OVERALL IMPRESSION: Can't Get Enough!

COMMENTS: "Really nice taste; Long lasting taste - really lingers; Perfectly carbonated; Delicious; Finishes clean and dry; Kind of a West Coast taste without the bitterness; Bright; It's not as cloudy or unfiltered as the classic New England IPAs; I'm a fan, it's got a really different taste here kind of hard to put my finger on, but I like it."

DOWNTOWN IPA

MADISON BREWING COMPANY

THE BEER FACTS: STYLE: New England IPA; BREWER: Madison Brewing Company, Bennington, VT; ABV: 6.5%; IBUs: 70.0; MALT: Pale, Flaked Wheat, Flaked Barley, Oats; HOPS: Mosaic, Citra, dry hopped with Mosaic and Citra Lupulin Pellets."

WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "DownTown IPA is a true Vermont IPA with a juicy hop saturation and little to no bitterness."

COLOR: Clover honey, butterscotch, hazy

POUR:  Decent Head

AROMA: Hoppy citrus aroma

BODY: Bit more than Medium

TASTE: Citrus, Grapefruit, juicy with just a little bitterness

OVERALL IMPRESSION: Can't Get Enough!

COMMENTS: "Juicy IPA; Absolutely delicious; Perfect date beer; Could drink and drink; If we could get this locally I would have this in my fridge all the time; Nice juicy IPA."

NEW ENGLAND IPA SINGLE BATCH 10

MIDDLE AGES BREWING

THE BEER FACTS: STYLE: New England Style IPA; BREWER: Middle Ages Brewing Company, Syracuse, NY; ABV; 7.0%; MALT: Oats and Malted Wheat.

WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "This version of our New England IPA features a grain bill of over 20% oats and 15% malted wheat. The hops are primarily a blend of new age fruity hops with a relatively small amount of dank and piney hops (over 3 LBS per bbl of dry hops alone). Fermented with a proprietary mixed culture of brewers yeast sourced from a brewery famous for their hazy IPA's. Nothing has been done to stabilize or clarify this beer in any way, it is very volitile. Please drink as soon as possible."

COLOR: Grapefruit juice, very hazy

POUR: Decent head

AROMA: Piney

BODY: Medium

TASTE: Citrus, lemon bit of alcohol taste

OVERALL IMPRESSION: Can't Get Enough!

COMMENTS: "Complex; Damn - that Middle Ages makes some good beers; Very drinkable - not over-the-top, but soooo good; Definitely has that juicy taste you expect from a New England with a bit of the alcohol taste underneath; Nice beer; Middle Ages is able to stay true to their brand while expanding into varying styles, their British roots pair well with this American IPA."

NEW ENGLAND IPA SINGLE BATCH 11

MIDDLE AGES BREWING

THE BEER FACTS: STYLE: New England IPA; BREWER: Middle Ages Brewing, Syracuse, NY; ABV: 7%; HOPS: Azacca, El Dorado, Mosaic, Colombus.

WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "This iteration of New England IPA is dry hopped with Azacca, El Dorado, Mosaic and a touch of Colombus. Fermented with an English Ale yeast that has become one of the most popular for this style."

COLOR: Grapefruit juice

POUR: Decent Head

AROMA: Minty/sweet/piney

BODY: Medium

TASTE: Pine, tropical fruit, hint of clove

OVERALL IMPRESSION: Can't Get Enough!

COMMENTS: "Even better than Single Batch 10 - a little better mouthfeel or something; New England IPAs are more complex than others, more difficult to brew; Tropics on the tongue; Nice full-flavored beer; Wonder if this will make it into bottles in some form or another the way Late Knight did eventually."

FRICKEN' WICKED

FULL BOAR BREWING

THE BEER FACTS: STYLE: New England Style IPA; BREWER: Full Boar Brewing, North Syracuse, NY, ABV: 7.2%

COLOR: Golden and filtered

POUR: Decent Head

AROMA: A little bready, yeast

BODY: Medium

TASTE: Sweet up front, toffee/caramel, not as fruity as the others

OVERALL IMPRESSION: Very near "Can't Get Enough!"

COMMENTS: "Certainly not the juice bomb you expect from a New England; Dangerously tasty though;  Frickin' good; No bitterness throughout; Nice bit of hoppiness at the end; Kind of a Pilsner taste; Lingering after-taste; Very pleasant."

BOOM SAUCE

LORD HOBO BREWING 

THE BEER FACTS: STYLE: New England Style IPA; BREWER: Lord Hobo Brewing Company;
ABV: 8%

WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "Beer for the discerning drinker that appreciates quality and recognizes value."

COLOR: Cloudy orange-ish

POUR: Decent Head

AROMA: Pine, citrus

BODY: Medium

TASTE: Follows the nose: pine, citrus, grapefruit, hint of lemon and a subtle maltiness

OVERALL IMPRESSION: Can't Get Enough!

COMMENTS: "I really like this beer; Big hop taste, nice pine and citrus flavors in there; Pretty easy-drinking for an 8%er; Little bit of malt gives it a bit more complexity than some of the others; Yeah, it's fairly balanced; Terrific beer, I've been keeping it as one of my regulars."

BREWERY BECKER

When we travel, my wife and I make a point of researching breweries and brew pubs near to our destination. At the very least we'll narrow down restaurants we wish to frequent based on their selection of craft beers. This despite the fact that my wife has no interest in craft beer. What a trooper! On a recent trip to Michigan, in the beautiful village of Brighton, I stumbled upon a place called Brewery Becker.

I wandered in one afternoon to check out their brews. As you can see by the beer menu at the right, this might not appear to be a hop-head's dream brewery. With styles such as Kolsch, Dusseldorier Altbier, Pilsner, Dunkelweizen, and Hefeweizen, it was easy to see that the brewery specialized in German-style lagers - not that there's anything wrong with that. Those just aren't the kinds of beers I'm most drawn to. Trust me, I am aware that there is a world of difference between an American mega-brew lager and a true German lager, it's just that my tastes run to hoppy ales. However there were a few names on that menu that intrigued me. Top of the list was a beer called Vargdricka. The brewery description of the beer says it is "A Scandinavian Farmhouse Ale. Based on the daily drink of the Vikings. A gruit ale, it is bittered with Juniper and Bog Myrtle. A Brewery Becker favorite." If you are wondering what a "gruit" ale is, it is basically any ale that does not use hops, but relies on other herbs for flavor and bittering.

Curious, I stopped in at Brewery Becker and ordered a Vargdricka. Right off I was impressed with the place by the generous pour.The beer was a kind of cloudy copper color. It is lightly carbonated with a pleasant aroma, though not one I could quickly identify so I assume it is the Juniper. The taste is initially sweet but rounds off into an interesting spiciness. It is absolutely a unique tasting beer, without being so far out there that it doesn't taste like beer. It really is quite a pleasant and very drinkable beer.
I asked if they had any IPAs and learned that normally they have one on tap but they were out. The interesting thing I learned about Brewery Becker is that they are dedicated to brewing beers based on traditional recipes - like the Vargdricka. Because the Vikings did not have hops they substituted various herbs to flavor their beers. I was then given a few (generous) samples of some of their other unique brews. Entire Butt, for example, is a beer from the Colonial era that is the precursor of Porters and Stouts. It was not uncommon in England for drinkers to combine beers. A typical combination might consist of  ale, which at the time was somewhat sweet, heavy and brewed with little or no hops, beer, which was much hoppier and therefore much more bitter, and Twopenny, a stronger ale. Thus the somewhat intriguing name Entire Butt, meaning the whole barrel. Brewed before the development of black malt, the beer is a dark brown and contains the nice coffee/malty characteristics you expect from a Porter or Stout. It is brewed strictly according to recipes of the time, using only ingredients available then. And it is delicious.
So, if you happen to be in the Brighton neighborhood, stop in at Brewery Becker. If you're a beer nerd like me, you'll find a fun and tasty experience.

Next month: Seasonal Ales

Slante,
The BOTB Guys

Backyard Brews - A look at Some New York State Beers

CENTRAL NEW YORK - A NEW 'LAND OF HOPORTUNITY'?

Once upon a time, Central New York was the country's leading hop producer. In the mid 19th century, the place for hops was Central New York. Not the Pacific Northwest, but all the way 'cross country on the opposite coast. Unfortunately, three blights - two natural and one human borne - combined to doom a once booming industry. In 1909 sphaerotheca humuli - a mildew struck hop farms followed in 1914 by an attack of aphids. The coup de grace came with Prohibition, one of the greatest examples in our history of cowardly politicians bowing to the whims of a vocal minority.
Prior to prohibition New York State was rife with small, regional breweries. Take a look at some of these pre-prohibition New York breweries:

Though that by no means is a complete list, it begins to show the number of lost breweries since only two of those are still in existence: Genesee and Utica Club (West End Brewing Company - known now for their Saranac line of beers). Some were done in by Prohibition while others were quashed by the mega-brews - either bought out or put out of business.

So it is great to see, like the Phoenix of myth, both hop farms and regional breweries rise from the ashes of their respective ancestors to breath new life into New York's venerable brewing history. This month we delve into some of the latest brews - from small, regional breweries to larger ones with a national presence - to appear in Upstate New York .

BONOBO SESSION IPA

CRAFT BREWERS

The Beer Facts: BREWER: Craft Brewers, Honeoye Falls, NY; STYLE: Session India Pale Ale; ABV: 4.5%; IBUs: 48; MALTS: Superior Pilsner, GoldPils Vienna, Aromatic Malt; HOPS: Bravo, Centennial, Simcoe, Amarillo, Mosaic, Sorachi Ace

What the Brewer Says: "Light on alcohol but not on flavor, this session ale presents a beautiful golden color. Predominant lemon and pineapple meet and carry into a distinct pine finish. The specialty malts add a biscuity complexity to this ale perfectly suited to paradise. This is your go-to IPA to enjoy over an entire evening or afternoon."

Color: Pale yellow gold

Pour: Somewhat better than a decent head

Aroma: Big flowery hop nose

Body: Medium

Taste: Strong hoppy bitterness with strong notes of citrus, lemon, grapefruit and pine. bit of malt balances the beer.

Overall Impression: Can't Get Enough!

Comments: "A lot of flavor for a session beer; Full flavor; Color leads you to think there's not much malt, but there's a nice breadiness there that compliments the hops; Lots of hop flavor for a Session; There's no "monkeying around" with this session beer; Actually, I like it better than Founder's All Day, and I like Founder's All Day a lot."

DACKER ADIRONDACK ALE

DAVIDSON BROTHERS BREWING CO.

The Beer Facts: BREWERY: Davidson Brothers Brewing Company, Glens Falls, NY; STYLE: Scotch ale: ABV: 6.2%

What the Brewer Says: "Dacker is a heavily-modified scotch ale that morphed into a completely different style after four generations of being brewed in the Adirondacks. At present, it is similar to a Scotch ale, with a stronger hop presence and correspondingly less maltiness. A very flavorful beer with definite subtle points. It'll teach you something new every time you take a drink."

Color: Orange/Copper

Pour: Decent head with light yellow lasting lacing

Aroma: Bready/metallic

Body: Medium

Taste: Sweet malty flavor with hints of toffee, slight hop. Bready, biscuit, toasted malt.

Overall Impression: I Could Drink This

Comments: "Nice malt presence - not overly heavy, though; A little clove and British yeast taste; Could be a lawn mower beer; Very pleasant; I could drink this; Nice clean finish; It's got that toffee taste you kind of expect from a Scotch ale; Bit of a hop bitterness there, but not much."

 SINGLE BATCH #2 IPA

MIDDLE AGES BREWING

The Beer Facts: BREWERY: Middle Ages Brewing, Syracuse, NY; STYLE: India Pale Ale; ABV: 6.3%; HOPS: Centennial

What the Brewer Says: "We make dozens of different beers throughout the year. While many are available all year round, many others are brewed seasonally or even just once a year." Single Batch #2 is one of those.

Color: Dark honey

Pour: Decent head with nice off-white lacing

Aroma: Floral / soap aroma

Body: A bit more than Medium

Taste: Balance and complex with a nice mix of malty and citrusy notes

Overall Impression: Can't Get Enough!

Comments: "Very drinkable; Good mouthfeel; I've never had a Middle Ages that I didn't like; Good hop presence, but nice malt presence as well; Nice hop-bitter after-taste that stays with you; Subtle at the beginning; More of a West Coast style than most of Middle Ages other brews; Aroma and taste reminds me somewhat of Flower Power."

DISTRUPTION NITRO

SARANAC BREWING

The Beer Facts: BREWERY: Saranac Brewing, Utica, NY; STYLE: American Brown Ale; ABV: 7%; IBUs: 25; MALTS: North American 2-Row, Munich, Crystal, Chocolate; HOPS: Northern Brewer, Fuggles, East Kent Goldings

What the Brewer Says: Disruption is a nitro infused Brown Ale, brewed with a distinctive mix of caramel and chocolate malts. Northern Brewer and Eastern Kent Goldings hops balance the deep maltiness, imparting their own rich earthy-fruitiness."

Color: Dark brown almost black. Very dark for a Brown Ale

Pour: Decent tan creamy head

Aroma: Malty, bready

Body: Full

Taste: Mostly sweet redolant of chocolate, coffee, caramel notes

Overall Impression: I Could Drink This!

Comments: "It's tastes more like a good porter or stout than a Brown Ale; I think it's a Brown Ale only because they decided to call it one; I really like how smooth it is; Give me a Stout or a Porter with that rich coffee/chocolate taste and you can call it whatever you like; Real creamy with a bit of earthy bitterness to counteract the sweet; Nice beer; I just love a beer that has a big taste like this."

IMPERIAL BLACK IPA

GENESEE BREW HOUSE

The Beer Facts: BREWER: Genesee Brewing Company, Rochester, NY; STYLE: Imperial Black IPA; ABV: 8.0%; MALTS: Caramel, Black; HOPS: East Kent Goldings

What the Brewer Says: "Heavy in caramel, roasted and black malts, this Imperial Black IPA is balanced with an intense bitterness from East Kent Goldings hops"

Color: Dark mahogany, nearly black

Pour: Guinness Class with big, rich dark head and lots of lingering lacing

Aroma: Sweet, molasses, caramel

Body: Full

Taste: Sweet toffee, caramel and coffee initially with a bitter hop bite at the end

Overall Impression: Between I Could Drink This and Can't Get Enough!

Comments: "Bitter bite at the end there; Can taste the alcohol; Has a British vibe; Definitely new direction for Genny; Not your Grandfather's Genesee; I hope they continue in this direction; A really rich, full-bodied beer, one that you want to just sip on; It seems to lean more toward the malt than the hops, but then you get a bit toward the finish."

THIRD IPA

SKEWED BREWING

The Beer Facts: BREWERY: Skewed Brewing, Watertown, NY; STYLE: Imperial IPA; ABV: 8.7%; IBUs: 123

What the Brewer Says: "A hop-centric Imperial IPA with bursts of lemon and a resinous-spice finish."

Color: Golden honey

Pour: Decent Head

Aroma: Malty/bready

Body: Medium

Taste: Balanced with hints of grapefruit and horehound

Overall Impression: Just shy of "Can't Get Enough!"

Comments: "doesn't taste as big as it is; Could sneak up on you; Nice beer, I like it; a little malt boost; Strong bitter after-taste; Drinkable, edging toward sippable; Definitely a winner."

TEST BATCH IPA #3

GENESEE BREW HOUSE

The Beer Facts: BREWERY: Genesee Brewing Company; STYLE: Imperial IPA; ABV: 9%; IBUs: 100

What the Brewer Says: NA

Color: Wheat

Pour: Guinness Class head

Aroma: Resin, yeast but not a big aroma

Body: Full

Taste: Big bitter finish with citrus notes, alcohol warming

Overall Impression: Can't Get Enough!

Comments: "This is from Genesee? Malt, then alcohol, then bitter hops; A "hot" beer; Big bitter finish, A sipper for sure; Not a big nose - but there's no question there's a lot of hops; It's a beer that reminds me of a good scotch - nice to sip before bed; Doesn't taste like the Genesee River and that's a good thing; Wow! I'm just so used to Genesee making lighter German lagers, it's great to see them jump into the big beer arena; Their bigger beers seem to lean more toward British beers as far as taste profile goes - though much bigger than most of the Brit brews."

2015 BELGIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY ALE

OMMEGANG BREWERY

The Beer Facts: BREWERY: Brewery Ommegang ; STYLE: Dry Hopped Tripel; ABV: 9.2%

What the Brewer Says: NA

Color: Hazy golden orange

Pour: Near Guinness Class heat - white head that quickly settles

Aroma: Bottom-fermented yeast, pilsener

Body: Between Medium and Full

Taste: Initially sweet with hints of cloves, coriander and orange as well as banana.

Overall Impression: Falls short of "I Could Drink This"

Comments: "I wouldn't seek this out; One of those beers where you either like that style or you don't and I just don't; I don't mind this one, actually; There's a spiciness that follows the sweet malt that I kind of like; It's that banana taste that is common to many of the Belgian brews I just don't care for; Really liked the last few Ommegang's we've tried - Hop House, Nirvana - thought they were really good; There's no question that among Belgian-style fans Ommegang is greatly revered."

RESULTS

We had three beers we rated "Can't Get Enough!" Two - Middle Ages Single Batch #2, and Genesee Brew House Test Batch #3 - were big test batch beers available only at the brewery, while one - Bonobo Session IPA was a low ABV beer.

Top 3: Bonobo Session IPA - We really liked this session IPA - a bigger taste than we generally find in sessions.
            Middle Ages Single Batch #2 - Another tasty beer from Middle Ages - big beer with a West Coast vibe - a bit of a departure.
            Genesee Brew House Test Batch #3 Imperial IPA - The Genesee Brew House series is a real departure for Genesee, which has made its mark with German-style lagers. This is a big, bold IPA with a nice warming alcohol hit to it.

Next:   Skewed Brewing 3rd IPA - Just shy of "Can't Get Enough!" this is a delicious big IPA. It didn't taste like an 8.7%.

Then:   Genesee Brew House Imperial Black IPA - Another good one from the Brew House. The beer has a definite British vibe with a nice blend of malt and hop.

ICDT (I Could Drink This): Saranac Disruption Nitro - We felt this was much closer to a Stout or Porter than a Brown ale. A terrific Stout or Porter with big taste of dark chocolate.
                                              Davidson Brothers Dacker Adirondack Ale - A pleasant beer that didn't really knock our socks, but certainly drinkable.

Also: Ommegang Independence Day Ale - This came up shy of I Could Drink This primarily as a result of personal preference - none of us are particular fans of Belgian-style ales. If you are, you will no doubt enjoy this.

Sláinte,

The BOTB Guys

In the Bleak Midwinter

Message in a window in Glasgow, Scotland - Thanks to
Rosemary Jordal

Alas, winter is upon us. The snow piles high while the mercury sinks low. The glorious green of summer gave way to a brilliant burst of fall colors followed by the inevitable monochromatic melancholy of midwinter.

And to make matters worse, the Bills didn't make the playoffs. Again. Nor did the Jets nor the Giants nor the Browns nor the Vikings - a pathetic clean sweep for the BOTB Guys.

Thank God there's beer!

For our January beer club, we came upon a dilemma. Gerry proposed what, at first blush, sounded like a great idea. To wit: imagine you have a brother-in-law who drinks only mass produced mega brews and you would like to ease him into craft beers. What beer would you choose to nudge him toward more flavorful ales? And why would you choose that beer? It made for an interesting academic question. Something that would make for a lively discussion. Possibly over a delicious IPA. But would it necessarily make for good drinking? 

Upon further review, we began to realize that if we were to be true to the premise, it would necessitate an evening of fairly middle-of-the-road brews. I mean, let's face it, you're not going to ease someone into craft beers with, say, Heady Topper or Arrogant Bastard. Yet those are the kinds of beers we look forward to each month. Instead we would be bringing some fairly tame pale ales, perhaps even lagers. And where's the fun in that?

Gerry, savvy ex-administrator that he is, sensing the way the wind was blowing on this question, readjusted the sails and suggested we just bring a favorite beer with which we'd choose to celebrate the new year. 

In the end, we had a mixed bag of 12 different beers because nearly everyone tried to adhere to both precepts.

The brother-in-law beers were: Long Trail Ale, Left Hand Brewery's Sawtooth Ale, Middle Ages Boxing Day Bitter, Ballantine IPA, and Harpoon IPA.

The beers we brought as our New Year's celebration beer were: Long Trail Limbo IPA, Southern Tier 2X, Commodore Perry IPA, Up Top IPA, Circus City IPA, Elysian Space Dust, Apocalypse from Middle Ages, and Grindstone Brewery's Holiday Hopped Ale.

Because there were so many beers, some of which we had reviewed in the past, we once again did not do a thorough analysis. Instead I'll give you a quick group consensus on each and why this particular beer was chosen to entice a non-craft beer drinker to the dark side. 

Try-It-You'll-Like-It Beers

Long Trail Ale - Reason: "It's one of those beers from my early days of craft beer. It's one of the ones that got me into good beer." Group: A nice balanced pale ale. Easy drinking malt first with some nice hoppiness to it. I Could Drink This.

Sawtooth Ale from Left Hand Brewery - Reason: "A real nice pale ale that isn't over the top so it shouldn't scare him off but enough flavor so I like it too." Group: Another nicely balanced pale ale. Very tasty but nothing overpowering. I Could Drink This."

Middle Ages Boxing Day Bitter - Reason: "I just think it's a good beer and if he doesn't like it I'm sure he can find a Bud someplace." Group: Terrific beer. Nice piney hop presence with a solid malt backing and a bit of toffee at the finish. Can't Get Enough!

Ballantine IPA - Reason: "I figured the old familiar name of Ballantine might assuage his trepidation a bit as opposed to, say, Caged Alpha Monkey for instance. It's a real flavorful IPA though, so ultimately I'd be tossing him into the deep end." Group: Great beer. Good to see a name from the past resurface as a really tasty IPA. Impressive. Can't Get Enough!

Harpoon IPA - Reason: "If you're going to get him to an IPA, Harpoon would be a good one because while it's definitely an IPA, it's a fairly balanced one, without a real high IBU so there's no overload on the senses." Group: A good, solid, dependable IPA that skews toward the English IPA. Strong malt with a nice hop bite. Can't Get Enough!

New Year's Kick-Back Beers

The rest of the beers we did not really review, we merely enjoyed them as per our hosts instructions. Some of them we've had before (Soutern Tier 2X, Commodore Perry IPA) while others we'll take a closer look at down the road.


Next Month we zero in on Scotch Ales and Scottish Ales (they aren't the same). We'll explain the difference and give our unbiased opinion of several from both here and abroad.




Coming this spring: Live updates from the pubs of England - where a couple of BOTBers check out craft beer British style. Join us on a virtual pub-crawl through the English countryside and London. How does British craft beer stack up with American craft beer?

Sláinte,
The BOTB Guys