Tag Archives: ipa

Smuttynose IPA

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Beer-a-Day #327Smuttynose IPA

Ten years ago we brewed our first batch of Shoals Pale Ale, our American interpretation of the traditional British ESB (Extra Special Bitter) style. At the time, it was widely considered to be darned hoppy. However, a funny thing happened over the last decade – our Shoals Pale Ale didn’t change; beer lovers did, and we started to hear more and more: “Why don’t you guys make a really hoppy beer?”

You could say, then, that Smuttynose IPA is a physical salute to the glory of the American hop grower. The citrusy hop flavor coming from a mixture of Simcoe and Santiams is pleasantly balanced by a smooth bitterness from the Amarillo hops. The beer itself is light bodied and crisp with a golden color that will throw a slight haze, as we bottle it unfiltered. At 65 IBU’s, this is definitely not a training-wheels IPA, but is meant for hop lovers looking to satisfy their craving in a way that’s not easy to find. We think they’ll be quite pleased.

It’s the color of tea with a lacy head. The hops are pretty floral with some spiciness. The hops are way up in front; obviously dry-hopped. If you like hop bitterness you’ll like this.

Smuttynose “Finestkind” IPA

Brew Free or Die IPA

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Beer-a-Day #317 beer cans waiting to be picked

I was at my favorite retailer recently and I was able to score seven craft beers in cans. I declare a “Can Week”! (But, sadly, this is the end.)

Today: Brew Free or Die IPA from 21st Amendment Brewery, a famous brewpub in San Francisco that only recently started canning some of their beer. (I couldn’t get ahold of their Hell or High Watermelon wheat beer for this week. I hope to get some soon.)Brew Free or Die IPA

Brewed with some serious west coast attitude. This aromatic golden IPA starts with a sucker punch of six different hops to the nose, quickly balanced by a solid malt back bone. Our top selling beer at the pub, this IPA starts big and finishes clean leaving you wanting more.

Amber with an orangish cast. Some fruit and resiny aroma from the hops. Has a very nice finish. Why, yes, I do want some more.

Caldera IPA

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Beer-a-Day #316 beer cans at parade rest

I was at my favorite retailer recently and I was able to score seven craft beers in cans. I declare a “Can Week”!

Today: IPA from Caldera Brewing a small microbrewer in Ashland Oregon and the first in Oregon to can their beer.

An American-style India Pale Ale brewed with plenty of body and an assertive hop profile.

Caldera IPAMedium amber and clear. Lots of grapefruity hop aroma. That’s pretty good, although I’m finding it a little harsh in the finish. My wife rather likes it, though.

Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA

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Beer-a-Day #289Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA

Sierra Nevada Torpedo Ale is a big American IPA; bold, assertive and full of flavor and aromas highlighting the complex citrus, pine and herbal character of whole-cone American hops.

I’d been hearing a lot about this beer, but I wasn’t seeing it at any of my local retailers. I’m glad it came into my hands at our Oktoberfest celebration.

Pretty medium amber color with an ivory-colored head. Plenty of spicy, piney hops in the aroma. Big hop taste. Truly a beer for an unapologetic hop-head like me.

Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA

Magic Hat Lucky Kat

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Beer-a-Day #257Magic Hat Lucky Kat

Lucky Kat purrs as he pours with a grin on his mangy face and a grin in his searching eye. He sits on the fence he calls home, dividing up from down. Is he an imperial beast or a pale soul from the east? Only he knows and we know only this: if you reach out to pet him he’ll bite back with a big, hoppy kiss.

Nice deep amber color, thick off-white head. Nice floral and citrusy hops. That’s better than I expected.

Magic Hat Brewing


Flying Dog Raging Bitch

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Flying Dog logoBeer-a-Day #256

One of the highlights of GonzoFest yesterday was the preview of Flying Dog’s upcoming 20th anniversary beer: Raging Bitch.

I understand it’s made from an augmented Snake Dog wort with an exclusive Belgian yeast strain (called Diablo) and dry-hopped with a load of Amarillo hops. They’re calling it a Belgian IPA.

It was really good. It had that hop bite from a big, bad American IPA with the banana and bubblegum from the Belgian yeast. I’m looking forward to seeing it at my preferred retailer.

Flying Dog Brewery

Red Hook Long Hammer IPA

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Beer-a-Day #241

The distinctive India Pale Ale style was developed by British brewers in the 1700s in order to create a sturdy beer that could survive long sea journeys to far-flung colonies where troops eagerly awaited the arrival of this sublime liquid refreshment. Long Hammer takes the traditional IPA brewing process one step further by dry hopping, or adding hops at the end of the brewing process with Cascade hops to give a wonderful hop aroma but not the overpowering hop taste. Long Hammer IPA is the beer you find yourself reaching for again and again, no matter what the occasion.

Light gold and clear; white head with lots of lacing. Some grapefruit in the aroma, piney. Pleasantly bitter, with a bit of grapefruit zest in the finish. I like it.

Red Hook Long Hammer IPA

Magic Hat hI.P.A.

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Magic Hat hI.P.A.Beer-a-Day #227

hI.P.A. is a highly hopped India Pale Ale and the Spring SeasonAle. A medium-bodied beer with a fresh and fruitful nose of vernal vitality. It begins and ends with a big hop bite that is itself forever balanced on the brink by a steady rhythm of malt. Dry-hopped for extra quenching in the face of heat and beat, it’s an ideal accompaniment to chilling out, turning inward or sailing onward through the music of the night toward the dawn of the mind. It’s the liquid way to say be here now lest you never come this way again.

Medium amber with some orange highlights. A little perfume-y. Nicely bitter, but I’m getting a bit of soap in the flavor. I think it might be a little old; there is some unusual sediment in the bottom of the bottle.

Magic Hat