Tag: IPA
Founders Brewing Co. Double Trouble
It’s been about 3 years now since I began really learning about beer. The different styles, brewers, the ingredients, etc., etc., there’s a lot to learn about and of course, a lot of beers and brewers out there. Sadly, it’s only within the past year that I’ve discovered Founders Brewing Company, the phenomenal brewery based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
In part, this is because the beers have only recently begun to really penetrate the Massachusetts market. In past years, I’m certain that they haven’t distributed the same volume of beers in this state that you can now find. At the same time, during the past year I’ve made a concerted detour in my tasting trajectory and have really fallen in love with American beers and breweries. So it’s safe to argue that I haven’t noticed the available Founders beers in the past, to my detriment as it turns out.
Founders was opened in 1997 and today is one of the real center-stage breweries in the craft beer scene. Their beers (in particular their special releases such as the Breakfast Stout, Imperial Stout, Double Trouble, and the infamous Kentucky Breakfast Stout) receive loads of attention on sites such as Beer Advocate and at festivals such as the Extreme Beer Fest. In fact, I’ll never forget the massive crush of people lined up for the Kentucky Breakfast Stout at this year’s EBF and the throaty cheer that went up when the keg was tapped! And all of this attention is extremely well-deserved. Of all their beers that I’ve tried, at the worst they’ve been great (Red’s Rye), and at the best phenomenal (all of the others!).
The only downside is that in so many ways the craft beer scene is distinctly a “scene”, which brings with it the attendant difficulties of actually finding some of the more in-demand beers. A local shop for instance received all of one (!) case of the imperial stout, necessitating some extra driving to track down a 4-pack of that stunning beer. Similarly, with the imminent release of the Kentucky Breakfast Stout, I’ve been keenly aware of the weary answers of shop owners when I’ve asked them about when they expect it to arrive and hit the shelves. Despite this, I’ve no doubt that the Founders’ beers are worth all of the effort. As I said, I’ve yet to be unimpressed by any of their beers, and in most cases have been simply blown away.
The Double Trouble was a beer that I bought on a lark. I hadn’t heard of it, but it was in stock at one of the great beer shops here in Boston, Publick House Provisions. Of all of the Boston shops they’re probably most specific about their selection (due to space constraints), and so I decided to take a shot on this beer. Having enjoyed the other Founders’ offerings, I figured this was probably a good bet. Double Trouble is Founders’ version of an Imperial IPA, and I assume is a relatively new release since their website doesn’t even have any information about it. (New in bottles anyhow, since there are only a handful of reviews on Beer Advocate from before 2009, and they’re all from on-tap tastings.)
The beer is brewed to 9.4% and 86 IBUs. I haven’t found out any other information on it, and so I’m unsure of which hops or malt they are using.
The beer pours a crystal clear, light golden color, slightly darker than a pilsner. It begins with a billowy white head that falls to a persistent, thin layer of foam. Amazing aromas of grapefruit, orange, lemon, and pine surge out of the glass. The nose is dominated by hop flavors in accompaniment with an undercurrent of sweet, simple syrup. The flavors hit your palate with loads of citrus hop flavors up front, followed by a hint of pine and resin hop flavors, all layered atop a solid malt texture. The malt doesn’t contribute much flavor or sweetness. Essentially, it’s almost as though the brewers managed to perfectly balance the simply sweet malt flavors with the optimal amount of citrus hop flavors to create an incredibly well balanced beer. The finish begins with some resiny hop flavors that give way to a burst of hop bitterness that itself is followed by a persistent honey sweetness. The malt flavors really kick in at the back-end of the finish.
This is an incredible IPA. I’m a sucker for citrus and pine hop aromas and flavors, and so the moment I got hit by the beer’s nose I was taken in. It’s totally impressive that the palate and finish follow through so well to create a beer that has a massive hop presence so perfectly integrated with its body and well-integrated malt flavors.
This beer stands out on two levels. On the one hand, it is easily one of the best IPAs I’ve had the good fortune to try. It’s a seasonal from Founders, and so the pleasure may be fleeting, but an annual release to look forward to. On the other hand, it is yet another outstanding offering from Founders, right up there with the Imperial Stout, Kentucky Breakfast Stout, and Maple Breakfast Stout, the other of their beers that I’ve tried and found to be entirely stunning.
In the end, this beer certainly confirms Founders’ deserved reputation for brewing palate-challenging yet incrediblly drinkable and complex beers. If you enjoy hoppy beers, then go find some of this straightaway – no chance for disappointment.
Note: Here’s a link to an interesting video tour with the head brewer at Founders, Jeremy Kosmicki.
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Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA
This winter Sierra Nevada introduced a new addition to their lineup of year-round beers, the Torpedo Extra IPA. I am an avowed “hophead” and look forward to trying all sorts of new IPAs, but West-coast style IPAs are where my heart really lies. So when Sierra Nevada made the announcement of the impending release, I was hooked and couldn’t wait for it to show up on shelves.
Two things about the new beer made me particularly interested. First, one of the hops that they use is a new variety called Citra. Sierra Nevada worked with a couple of partners to develop this new hop variety, and they currently own most of the very small acreage devoted to it. As a result of my homebrewing experiences devising my own IPA recipes, I’ve read a lot about different hop varieties, and so the prospect of a new hop aimed at maximizing citrus-flavors was pretty exciting. Secondly, they make the beer using a device called the Hop Torpedo. This is a device that they invented as a means of dry-hopping their beers. It works similarly to a hop-back, except that it is used for already fermented beer (hop-backs are typically used as wort is run into the fermenters either before or after cooling): hops are packed into a stainless steel filter and the beer is run from the fermenter through the filter and back into the fermenter. The flow-rate of the beer can be controlled in order to extract more or less hop oils and flavors. Sierra Nevada argues that this maximizes hop flavor from dry-hopping without the bitterness of traditional methods.
And so I waited on pins and needles for the new beer to arrive, and when it finally did I wasted little time tracking down a 6-pack.
Sierra Nevada calls it Torpedo Extra IPA because in terms of strength and IBUs it lies somewhere between a regular and an imperial IPA. It weighs in a 7.2%, with an original gravity of 1.073 and a fairly high final gravity of 1.018, so expect some body to the beer. It comes in with 70 IBUs, using Magnum for bittering hops, Magnum and Crystal for finishing hops, and Magnum, Crystal, and Citra for dry-hopping.
The beer pours a crystal clear amber-gold. A fluffy white head quickly dissipates to a thin, persistent layer with a fair amount of lacing. Hops leap out of the glass, with floral notes of pine, evergreen, and lemon, along with a notable undercurrent of maltiness. The palate kicks off with bright hop flavors and bitterness, very well balanced so that the bitterness accentuates the hop flavors. Sweet malt flavors provide a solid backbone to the resiny hop flavors. Not as much hop-driven citrus flavor as in the nose. The finish is quite nice, leading off with hop bitterness that slowly gives way to a wave of malt followed by persistent flavors of orange peels and Meyer lemons.
This a great beer for hop-lovers, but actually presents a shade more hop bitterness than I expected. Not necessarily a bad thing, but more noticeable because the hop flavors were somewhat one-dimensional. The palate consisted largely of resiny hop flavors and a hint of citrus, but no more than that. As a result, the bitterness stood out more than I think it would otherwise if there were more dynamic hop flavors, and perhaps even some more malt flavors to kick in.
That being said, I really liked that this beer was basically designed as a vehicle for hop aromas and flavors. The malt in the palate and nose played a supporting role instead of competing for the limelight, giving the hops front and center stage. As a result, this beer is a total success as a companion piece to their year-round Pale Ale. But in terms of a dynamic, full-flavored IPA, their annual Celebration Ale will still be the best bet.
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Stone Brewing Co. Ruination IPA
Stone Ruination IPA was the first beer that really grabbed my attention and wouldn’t let go. It was about three years ago and up until that time I had been mostly interested in Trappist beers. I think it was the concept of monks brewing beer that really caught my interest at that point. There’s just something that you can trust in that concept, as though monks wouldn’t produce a mediocre beer. So all Trappist beers must be good, right?
But when I first tasted Stone Ruination IPA I was just blown away. Never mind the complexity of the beer, I’d tasted other complex beers. Or the depth of the beer’s flavors, I’d had plenty flavorful beers before that.
No, it was the audacity. The brazenness. The sheer attitude of the beer that really wowed me. Here was a beer that leapt out of the glass, kicked you in the face, and strongly suggested that you go drink another beer.
I’m honestly not simply parroting Stone’s advertising surrounding their beers (the company uses the motto “Are you worthy?” for their Arrogant Bastard Ale). This is my honest-to-goodness perception of the beer. This isn’t an inviting beer that welcomes novice IPA drinkers. And heaven forbid you don’t like IPAs to begin with, you don’t stand a chance with this beer.
Since that first glass of Ruination IPA I’ve tasted a number of beers, many in their own way as intense or more so than Ruination. But this beer entirely changed my perception of beer and the heights that it could scale. Here was a beer that was intensely hoppy, that packed layers of flavor into the glass, and that truly woke your taste buds up when you took your first sip.
Today, I still think this beer is pretty amazing, even if it is now one of many beers that I think are really fabulous. It is brewed to 7.7% alcohol and 100+ IBUs. Centennial and Columbus hops are used during the brewing of the beer, and it is dry-hopped with Centennial. Stone, founded in 1996, uses hops aggressively throughout their lineup of beers, and is certainly one of the breweries that has continuously pushed the envelope for hoppy beers, and powerful beers in general. Their series of Vertical Epics and anniversary beers are notoriously outstanding, overwhelmingly hoppy and strong beers that quickly become sought after items. Ruination IPA, along with their Arrogant Bastard, is one of their real flagship beers at this point. One that you can find on draft with increasing frequency and which is consistently a great beer.
The Ruination pours a hazy orange-yellow with a creamy head that quickly dissipates leaving serious lacing on the sides of the glass. The nose has a mellow malt undertone and a slight note of baking bread but is otherwise dominated by hops: pine, resin, spices, and a hint of citrus. The palate first strikes with sweet, citrus hops that quickly give way to spicy and strongly bitter hop flavors. Hop resins kick in coating your palate. A distinct malt sweetness underlies all of the hop flavors and becomes more prominent at the back end of the palate, providing a strong backbone. The beer finishes with significant bitterness overlaid with malt sweetness and hop spiciness.
There are two particularly notable elements about this beer. The first is that it is distinctly unbalanced. Hops dominate throughout and really abuse your palate. There is malt sweetness that has more than just a token presence, but the hops dominate center stage. The second element is that the hop flavors skew towards the resin, pine, spicy variety. This can be very good, but there is only the slightest hint of citrus hop flavors. So your impression of this beer, if hops are your thing, will be mediated to some extent by your preferred hop flavors.
But take these two asides with a grain of salt. Ruination remains a great beer that unabashedly is what it is. And it is one of the flagship offerings (along with Arrogant Bastard) in Stone’s lineup of reliably impressive offerings. And if you like the Ruination, you may be ready to move on to some of their other, equally audacious beers.
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Mad River Brewing Co. Steelhead Double India Pale Ale
Today was kind of a stressful day, and after the stressful part of my day was over I decided to conduct a little shopping therapy to assuage my aching head. So I stopped by our local shop and wandered the wine aisles, looking longingly at California Zinfandels (I’ve been reading an (transcribed) oral history of Paul Draper and Ridge Vineyards), a couple of Italian wines, and then circling through the beer selection.
Nothing totally spoke to me, until I ran across the Mad River Brewing Company beers and remembered how interested I’d been in trying a couple of their offerings, specifically the Steelhead Double India Pale Ale and the Mad River Jamaica Red Ale. That was before winter really arrived, at which point beer almost completely left my thoughts, replaced by wine and brown liquors. But, now the time seemed right to try something of theirs. The Red Ale bottles had a pretty thick layer of dust on them, and so I decided to give the Steelhead a whirl.
I’ve been thinking recently about the East-West divide regarding hops and beer. I’m not just talking about IPAs, but also Pale Ales, Red Ales/Ambers, Stouts, and even Barleywines. I believe there is a stark, definitive contrast between the way these styles are brewed on the East coast versus the West coast. Essentially it comes down to the role that hops play in these beers. West coast brewers have embraced hops, heart and soul. Stone, Russian River, Green Flash, Lagunitas, Alesmith, and others brew beers that are unabashedly, assertively hoppy. These brewers wholeheartedly put hops front-and-center throughout the majority their offerings.
Take Stone for instance. It’s not just their Ruination IPA that is rife with hops, but also their regular IPA, their Pale Ale, Arrogant Bastard, Levitation Ale, most of their special offerings such as the annual vertical releases, and even their Russian Imperial Stout. Russian River Brewing not only created the massively, crazily hoppy Pliny The Elder (perennially considered one of the best Double IPAs out there), but they then sought to top that by creating Pliny The Younger which raised the bar even further. Both beers are odes to the hop, giving it full, unadulterated expression in the nose, the palate, and the finish.
East coast brewers on the other hand continue to brew beers that largely herald from, and still stay relatiely true to, traditional English beer styles. Their ales generally give greater prominence to malt and yeast characteristics, with the hops being kept in check playing a supporting role. Even when it comes to IPAs it is rare to find any that are overtly hoppy. And when they are, as with Troegs’ Nugget Nectar or Samuel Adams Imperial Hallertau Pilsner, the hop varieties used are of the earthy spicy variety. This contrasts starkly with the utter dominance of pine and citrus flavored hops used out West (Sierra Nevada has actually taken this to one of its logical conclusions by leading the development of new hop that is being called the “Citra” hop). Because brewing on the East coast, and in New England in particular, is historically derived from English styles, ESBs and Brown Ales are common offerings here, whereas throughout the rest of the country these two styles are much less common. It is also one of the reasons why the beers brewed here tend to givve much less prominence to hops than those brewed on the West coast, where no such brewing tradition existed (it would be interesting to look more closely at the correlation between how this approach, largely based on a lack of as defined a history as other parts of the world, has manifested itself in both the region’s beer and wine industries – both of whom are renowned for inventing, or re-inventing, styles ad nauseum).
Additionally, West coast brewers have always had ready access to copious amounts of hops grown in California, Oregon, and Washington, whereas hops have not been grown in any significant amounts on the East coast in over a century. As a case in point, Sierra Nevada owns nearly all of the acres of the new Citra hop (totalling about 3 acres), along with owning acreage of several other hop varieties. This is largely possible due to their geographic proximity to prime hop-growing areas. This too has played an important role in why hops are treated so differently by brewers on the two coasts.
But the most important reason, is that for too long brewing on the East coast, and in New England in particular, has been boring and new breweries have rarely sought to break the mold. Brewers have been reluctant to try new styles, to challenge the palates of consumers, to go out on a limb. In contrast, brewers on the West coast have created new beer styles and pioneered new takes on old styles. Essentially, these two brewing cultures are worlds apart in terms of the approach they are taking and what they are trying to achieve. And to a certain extent, each of them is brewing for a wholly different audience.
Now, just to be clear, I realize full well that this is a generalization. Brewers on both coasts are challenging the generalities that I am drawing up here (Dogfish Head being the obvious counter argument). But my argument remains sound: there is, generally speaking, a great divide between these two brewing cultures, East and West coasts. And from my perspective, it’s a shame, and consumers are the ones suffering the most. I want there to be at least one brewer in New England brewing, as part of their regular lineup, a great, hoppy, IPA. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.
This coastal divide was a large part of what made me so interested in trying the Mad River Steelhead Double IPA. I’d been seeing it in shops and saw that it was from Blue Lake, CA, not too far from Chico, home of Sierra Nevada. Then I went to their website and saw that they used images of hops as graphics all over the place, a good sign. The reviews of the beers were good, and so I decided to dive in.
Now I can say with confidence that Mad River Brewing Company should be added to the list of California breweries producing good, overtly hoppy beers. The Steelhead is brewed to an original gravity of 1.080, with a final gravity of 1.014, resulting in 8.6% alcohol, alongside 85 IBUs. No indication of what hop varieties they use.
The beer appears amber gold and is slightly hazy with a small amount of sediment as a result of the beer being unfiltered. The head has a creamy look and a small layer sticks around throughout. The nose is loaded with pine and citrus hop aromas, with pine notes taking the upper hand. Hints of caramel, malt, and wheat lurk around the edges of the nose. Pine and resin hop flavors hit your palate first, followed by a brief moment of caramel and malt sweetness, which quickly gives way to another wave of hop piney flavors. Hops provide bitterness from start-to-finish and do not contribute nearly as much hop flavor. The body is surprisingly light for that 8.6%. The finish is made up entirely of hop resins that linger for a good length of time.
All in all, this beer is not really balanced at all – hop flavors and bitterness dominate and other flavors have only a brief showing. I’m ok with this, but this is definitely a beer for people who love hops. And to return to my theme, this is the kind of beer that East coast brewers, and New England brewers in particular, really just aren’t brewing enough of. Beers like this are too rare out here.
I’m not sure anymore that I’m that much of a minority as someone who really loves hoppy beers, in many cases the hoppier the better. Hoppy beers are increasingly common – just not from brewers out this way. But I’ll never forget going into one of the Lucky Labrador brewpubs in Portland, Oregon and seeing that they had 3 (!) IPAs on tap. Three. No really, three. Now that is exciting.
Note: one of my ultimate goals is to one day try the Russian River Brewing Pliny The Elder Double IPA and Blind Pig IPA in bottles. I’ve had the chance to try Pliny The Elder on draft a couple of years ago, I have never been able to try the Blind Pig, or either since they came out in bottle about a year ago. From all accounts they are the exact type of beer that I have come to enjoy so much – beers that are unequivocally, unapologetically hoppy. Now that they’re in bottle, I’m hoping against hope to one day get my hands on a couple so that I can give them a whirl. Here’s to having patience!
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Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
I’ve long been a fan of Sierra Nevada’s Pale Ale, it’s a great go-to beer for those times when either a) you’re not sure what kind of beer you’re in the mood for and just want something tasty and enjoyable, or b) you’re out at some place you’ve never been before and most of the beer menu is schlock, but they have it in among the lagers and pilsners. It’s that kind of beer, you can find it almost everywhere (here in Mass. anyhow), and it’s pretty much always good.
That being said, I haven’t had too many of their other beers. The annual release of Bigfoot Barleywine is always something that I look forward to, and I think that theirs is a benchmark for the West-Coast style barleywine: lots of body and sweetness compounded by a serious hop presence. In the case of SN’s version, the malt and hops work great together and the beer is delicious. In fact, I’ve got a few bottles from each of the last three years downstairs, and can’t wait to do a comparative tasting when the 2009 comes out this winter.
I also had their ESB (Early Spring Beer) this year, but wasn’t too excited by that. It seemed overly understated as though it couldn’t decide what kind of beer it wanted to be. And that’s it, I can’t think of any others that I’ve had. So this year when the Celebration Ale came out, I picked some up to give it a whirl.
On first glance this beer didn’t seem much different than their Pale Ale (in retrospect I found this to be entirely false: having had a chance to try the Pale Ale shortly after writing this post, I can definitely say that they are very different, the Celebration Ale is much, much hoppier, and has a fair amount more body). The color is a dark amber, very clear. The nose is ripe with citrusy hops, the Centennial hops really stand out beautifully here. There is some sweetness lurking around in the nose, but it is largely floral hop character that stands tall. The palate is very much hop-driven, and here the Chinook hops come into their own throwing some pine and resin into the mix. A slight citrus character comes through as well, and some malt-sweetness to boot. But for the most part it’s hops all the way through. The finish follows this pattern, with hops coating the palate and carrying through. The higher alcohol percentage (6.8%) is noticeable here in that the flavors really stick to your palate, which allows the hop character to just keep on rolling for what turns out to be a very long finish.
This is a great West-Coast style IPA. As a homebrewer Chinook and Centennial are my two favorite hop varieties, and I love that their character is so pronounced in this beer. This is definitely one that I wouldn’t mind having on hand to open up a bottle of every once in a while.
So as I sit here writing this in the midst of a homebrewing session, everything feels like it’s coming together. It’s a cold, drizzly, ugly wintry day. But here I am indoors where it’s (relatively) warm, I’m brewing in the kitchen, and drinking a great, flavorful beer. Not bad at all.
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