IPA Archives - BEER AWESOME

Take a ride into the Danger Zone…with BeerAwesome

Danger Zone IPA
Solace and Ocelot Brewing Co.s (collab)
7%
16oz Can

First, I love that it was a collaboration with Ocelot. That’s just perfect, and so is this. I don’t think I even got to log(gins) my first thoughts before I was halfway through it. It pours cloudy, bright, and with juicy, citrus notes. It was brewed with Strata and Citra hops, and they came play. Beach volleyball optional.

Hops – 7.7 All jokers aside, it’s not so much bitter as it is floral and juicy. Well done.

Malts – 2.1 There’s a sweetness that comes with being a hazy/cloudy but it’s more citrus than anything.

Carbonation – 6.5 It is a little bubbly but not obnoxiously so.

Character – 5.1 I’m sure there are IPAs that taste just like this everywhere. It’s good, and it had a great gimmick on the label. That’s enough for me.

Palate – 8.9 Great balls of fire, it’s delicious.

Overall – 9.1

This is right in that sweet spot of bitter, juicy, citrus, and hazy-sweet. It’s got a fantastic label, checks in at a respectable 7%, and would be perfect for an IPA lover or someone looking to try something new. I honestly wish I had a few more, but it’s a limited run and they (blamelessly) sold out quickly. Both breweries are well versed in the IPA world so a very good offering from a collab is no surprise. It is incredibly drinkable and for that reason, I don’t like you. You’re dangerous.

BeerAwesome goes to BEERlin with Jager and Stone

Stone and Jagermeister
Jagermeister and Arrogant Bastard Ale8.5%
2019

I’ll preface this by saying I found this bottle having no idea it even existed. Reading up, it’s from the Stone installation in Germany, called Arrogant Consorita[sic](from their website). Pretty sure it’s Consortia but I am not a word doctor. It has aged (obviously) even though there was a big “DRINK FRESH, NUMBSKULL” on the side of it. However, the release date was Sep 2019 so it’s not SO far off and coming from Berlin it wouldn’t be super fresh to begin with. I think my apprehension was not wanting to 1) waste something exotic and 2) not destroy something beautiful. But here’s that Fight Club moment, so PROST!

I can’t keep typing out JAGERMEISTER AND ARROGANT BASTARD ALE so it will be known as JAB. The JAB, once uncorked, immediately had a very herbal smell like juniper punching me in the nose. Once poured, it didn’t go away. I get the licorice most people associate with Jager. It has a slightly higher ABV than the regular Bastard but I’m not sure I pick up any more booze. I have also prepared a cold shot of Jager, to intermittently sip. For research purposes.

Hops – 6.7 It is still Arrogant Bastard, but the initial hop bite/flavor/aroma really gets knocked out by JAB’s herbals. Some of the way into this glass and all I get at first is juniper, citrus, anise, licorice and then I’m left with the pungent bitterness of a stone IPA. It’s an odd transition from sweet to floral, to herbal and then a lingering bitter finish that really doesn’t showcase any of the flavors that they have separately. I would say it’s more resiny than hoppy.

Malts – Maybe. It’s sweet but that’s more from the addition of Jager and its ingredients. It would be tough to pick up any of the traditional caramel, roasted, wheat flavors you might find in a normal beer.

Carbonation – 5.5 It doesn’t pour flat, you can feel it in the mouth, but it’s not super lively. It’s a decent balance.

Character – 8.9 It’s tough to remain subjective when so many worlds collide. I like Jager. I like Arrogant Bastard. I like the flavors both of those things have. I like the flavors they have brought together, but it’s so weird. Like the guy that still drives a Pontiac Aztek but hasn’t even seen Breaking Bad, they just like it for the space and it was a graduation gift and that sort of makes sense on paper. There are so many things going on, and you get to taste all of them.

Palate – 4.1 This beer is exactly like when you’re cooking, and you under/overspice something and you keep adding stuff to it to balance it out until you’re left with a Katamari roll up ball of almost everything in your kitchen when you really just started out making a chicken parm. While the flavors are great separately, nothing here is cohesive. It’s a boozed up version of a 4 year-old’s story where you heard about one hundred details but none of them were pertinent.

Overall – 6.9 I figure they would like that number.

It’s the COOL LIQUOR PEOPLE coming together with the EXTREME BEER GUYS to make COOL EXTREME LIQUORBEER but that’s never been a niche. No one orders boilermakers outside of extras in movies, and this is like the worst parts of dropping a shot of Jager into an Arrogant Bastard. You can tell exactly what it is, but the one thing it wasn’t was necessary. I would say it was a neat marketing trick but I only found it a nice gas station that has all kinds of great beers. I’ve never seen it before or after, and hadn’t heard of it at all so it wasn’t marketing. If it was just an experiment, then now everyone knows. Not that it’s bad, it isn’t. But everything that makes Jager good and Arrogant Bastard good get lost in the mix here and you end up with a distorted version of both.

BeerAwesome does battle with an Evil Black Knight IIPA

Adriot Theory
Evil Black Knight
NE Style IIPA
22oz Bomber
8.5%

The Evil Black Knight [Here We Go Edition] Ghost 599 was bottled 07/17/2017 and starts strong with both words and content. There are more words on the label than in the last book I read. This pours a nice, very hazy, IPA color (there’s really no better way to describe that). It smells bitter and juicy so I’m excited to go to war with this unfiltered Imperial IPA.

Hops – 7.9 It’s not going immediately decimate your taste buds, but it’s bitter and delicious if that’s your thing.

Malts – 3.4 There’s something sweet about it, but the malty backbones of DIPA/IIPAs of old have been sent to the back of the line so that the juicy, bitter hops can lead the charge.

Carbonation – 7.1 It’s not champagne, but I think the slightly higher “bubbly” quality goes hand in hand with the taste of this beer.

Character – 5.7 I’m not going to say there’s a lack of flavors or essence here. That’s not the problem. There’s just not a great diversity. You get that tropical quality with this one but you won’t spend all day trying to convince yourself that there’s extra flavors in it that you didn’t pick up after the first 1,2,7,12 tries.

Palate – 8.8 It tastes like a great juicy (okay I’ll stop using that until I explain it) IIPA. It’s smooth, bitter, sweet, slightly tropical and none of those retreat too soon to enjoy.

Label – 10.2/10 Words, pictures, recommendations, pairings, a story. It has it all.

Overall – 9.1 A SUPREME VICTORY. And now to explain what I meant by “juicy”. It’s a term that’s becoming more popular with New England style IPA/DIPA/IIPA beers but it also doesn’t have a solid definition. You know it when you’ve got it, but trying to elaborate to someone that hasn’t tried anything like it is tough. It’s bitter but not overwhelming, and yet full of sweet flavors too. Adroit came up with a great battle plan on this one and air drops a bomb of IPA flavor into your mouth. The label has more to read than most bathrooms, and part of this bottle says it pairs well with “pickled pineapple with shaved pecorino” and that’s just obvious. If you don’t routinely have those foods in mind, you’re most likely uneducated and need a trip to the nearest whole foods/farmer’s market. Where they sell pickled whatevers and shaved stuff. But before you go scouting for esoteric foods, LOCATE AND EXTRACT THIS BEER BECAUSE IT IS DELICIOUS. Do the thing.

BeerAwesome has an Imaginary Girlfriend! And an IPA!

20150822_001214 Lost Rhino
My Imaginary Girlfriend IPA
6.1 % 22OZ Bomber

MIG Pours hazy golden color, sweet smell, very pleasant hop aroma. It can, however, do a 4G negative dive.

Hops – 7 I KNOW. It has hop aroma and bitterness and character but there’s nothing special about it. However, it is decently bitter without being overwhelming.
Malts – 3 They’re kinda there to give it a little sweetness, but that’s all you get here.
Carbonation – 6 It’s a little bubbly but nothing unpleasant.
Character – 5 The hops in it are decent enough, and I like that it is btiter without blowing my tongue to bits, but there needs to be…something. Anything. More alcohol, some better fruity esters, maybe a different yeast.
Palate – 7.5 It’s not that this is bad, because it’s not. It’s a pleasant experience and everything goes together well to make an overall blase beer.
Overall – 7 It’s not bad, it’s not amazing. It won’t get you hammered but it is expensive. It won’t offend or amaze, but the label is fantastic. A+.

The first thing that strikes me with this beer is the label. The actual sticker label on here is really high quality. It’s more like a vinyl or plastic than the paper you usually get. You definitely can’t tear this apart and shove the little shreds back into the bottle in some sort of cannabalistic anxious ritual. And then there’s the beer. It’s really not bad, but at 6% it had better be unbelievably smooth, or very distinct and it’s not. It has the “Lost Rhino” taste to it, and I fear that it’s basically another LR recipe without as much malt in it or something. Like someone made an OOPS batch of their Pale Ale and was left with the moral quandary of “What do we do with a beer that isn’t bad enough to scrap?” Do we sell it? What do we call it? What’s the drawing point here? Fred, you have any input? Of course you don’t, you’re the IT guy. The appeal of this beer is as imaginary as your girlfriend. HOLY SHIT THAT’S IT! FRED WE LOVE YOU, YOU UNWASHED MISERABLE BASTARD! Now please pick up your dice and dust the cheetoh crumbs off your desk, we don’t need you any more. Maybe take a shower and sign up for Tinder.

BeerAwesome reviews Heady Topper

The Alchemist – Heady Topper DIPA 8%
Pint Can

The instructions on this can are absolutely foolproof: “DRINK FROM THE CAN!” So, I did. Opening the top releases an avalanche of delicious hops right into your nostrils. I can’t comment on how it pours, except into your mouth at a frighteningly easy rate. Make no mistakes, this isn’t out to convert those on the fence about big IPAs. This wants to tenderly pet your tastebuds to death in a Lenny-like fashion. This beer has multiple statements about how it’s best when fresh, and unfortunately I did let this one age a little while. If it’s even better than this when it’s young, I’m jealous of those who got to experience that.

Hops – 8 Yeah. They’re here. Bitter and floral and citrusy and delicious. It’s not like drinking a pine cone, but if you don’t like a bitter brew, stay away.
Malts – 4.5 They’re there in the fact that they do enough to keep some hops in check and to deliver a nice sweet note.
Carbonation – 5.5 It’s smooth and not too bubbly.
Character – 6.5 Look this is simple. A little sweet, and then a bunch of hops. You won’t catch any crazy fruit esters, some wild rare yeast, or delicate notes of whatever. This is a fantastically simple DIPA.
Palate – 9 I love hops, and this is great. There’s no booze taste to it, it’s not too carbonated, and if you like hops half as much, it’ll go down quickly. But not before you have enough time to check out flights to Vermont to score more of this delicious brew. Well done.

Laughing Dog Alpha Dog Imperial IPA

04/29/2014
Alpha Dog Imperial IPA
Laughing Dog Brewing 8.5%

Pours bright honey color, citrus and hoppy on the nose. Not much head.

Tastes kind of malty at first, a surprise for the color and aromas. This gives way to some pleasant citrus and hop flavor, though neither are overpowering. You wouldn’t guess this is billed as an Imperial IPA until you read the 8.5% label.
1. Hops – 6.5 Whether they’re underpowered or just well balanced, I would expect a bigger presence from an IIPA
2. Malts – 5 There is actually a good showing here. People that dont like super bitter would actually be into this.
3. carbonation – 5.5 Somewhat bubbly, but still very pleasant.
4. Character – 6 There’s nothing here that really sets it apart from anything else. It doesn’t have any wow factor, anything wrong with it, it’s just… inoffensive in a market that thrives on being unique.
5. Palate – 7.5 Here’s the shocker. Because it’s not too much of anything, it really isn’t bad. It’s just not very good at any one thing.
Overall – 7.5 This is the Subaru of beers. They drive okay, they look alright, they’re not the slowest, but they don’t exceed at one thing, except being a jack of all trades. This will moderately appease IPA fans, while maybe converting some folks who like malty stuff. But this doesn’t make the short list.