Tag: IPA
Smuttynose Big A IPA
I’ve been a fan of Smuttynose’s beers for a while now, in particular I’ve been consistently impressed by how much their regular IPA stands out among other IPAs in the New England beer scene. The majority of IPAs made in New England lean towards the British style of IPA – hoppy while still essentially striking a balance between maltiness and hops. Smuttynose’s IPA on the other hand is aggresively hoppy, giving it a great aroma and a very fresh flavor and mouthfeel.
I first had the chance to try their Big A IPA at the Dirty Truth in Northampton last Spring. I was totally impressed, right from the gun. Ever since then I’ve been vainly looking for it in bottle-form, and only just recently happened across it in a shop in Providence. Needless to say, I snapped up a few bottles to hold onto, and this is the first that I’ve opened.
The Big A IPA is more than just a heightened version of their regular IPA. The hops in the nose and the palate are spicier than the those in the regular IPA. And of course, after that everything is different. The nose displays spicy hops accentuated by a malty sweetness. The head has a creamy look to it and leaves a pronounced lacing on the sides of the glass. The palate is dominated by hops, front to back. But again, instead of citrusy hops they are decidedly of the spicy variety. There is both strong bitterness and hop flavor, in equal measures. Alongside the hops there is a significant malt element, contributing a thick mouthfeel and a velvety sweetness. Tons of body to this beer. The finish is hops, and then some more hops. Basically, what your palate is left with is a residual hop bitterness that just lingers on.
This beer is a clear winner, although I have to admit that my preference is for their regular IPA. While the Big A IPA is a great and enjoyable beer, it is a mouthfull and you really have to plan when to dive into it. The regular IPA on the other hand is totally enjoyable, and a great “session” beer, much more approachable. So in sum, I’d say that everyone should go out and find this beer (especially on draft where it really shows its legs) A.S.A.P. It’s worth the search. But after you have one, then try the regular IPA and see where your own preference lies.
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Harpoon Leviathan Imperial IPA
This Imperial IPA is part of Harpoon’s Leviathan series which debuted this past June. Up until this point, the only other departure(s) from their stable lineup of beers had been the 100 Barrel Series, which featured the release of a unique beer every couple of months. While these two series are similar in that both allow Harpoon to brew a limited amount of a special one-off release, the goal of the Leviathan Series is to focus on producing limited runs of beers that feature stronger, more aggressive flavors and alcohol levels. The first beer in the series was a wheat-wine style beer called Triticus. The Imperial IPA is the second in the series, and they just recently released a Baltic Porter that is the third beer in the series.
Generally speaking I’ve never been a big fan of Harpoon’s beers. Not that I outright haven’t liked them, but instead I’ve found them to be uninspiring. The beers are ok, and not really much more than that. Because of this I’ve never taken the plunge and tried one of their 100 Barrel Series beers, although some of them have definitely caught my eye. And I was going to give the Leviathan Series a pass too, until I read some good reviews of the Imperial IPA that piqued my interest. It helped that the Leviathan Series entries come in 4-packs, which I find much more attractive than a beer only released in 22-oz. bottles (as the 100 Barrel Series is). So I gave the Imperial IPA a chance, and am glad that I did.
This is a very good beer. It’s got a nice, golden red color to it. The nose is swarming with hop oils, spicy resins, hop flowers, and a light current of malt-sweetness lingering about the edges. The flavor begins with a moment of sweetness quickly consumed by hop flavor, which itself gives way to a lingering hop bitterness. These are rough hop flavors, pine, resin, and spices, as opposed to citrus and flowers. The finish is entirely hop-driven, with a slight bit of malt flavor kicking around the edges but entirely muscled out by the hops. After a while the hop bitterness fades and gives way to some residual sugars from the alcohol. The body is surprising light for a 10% beer. In fact, I might even say dangerously light – it would be too easy to drink a couple of these before realizing how strong they are.
This is one of the two things that I really like about this beer – that despite being 10% it drinks like a much smaller beer. I don’t generally enjoy beers where the alcohol plays a dominant role in the body or the flavor, and especially not when the beer is an IPA. When I earlier wrote about Port Brewing’s Hop 15 this was one of the reasons I didn’t care for it so much – the alcohol had such a strong presence in the beer that it made it almost hard to drink, and the hops and the alcohol felt as though they had been uncomfortably married into the same beer. So I was pretty happy with how the Leviathan Imperial IPA managed to subsume the solvents, fusels, and cloying sugars that are so prevalent in many other high-ABV beers.
The second thing I really like about this beer is that it makes no bones about being a beer for hopheads. The nose, palate, and finish are massively hoppy, and there is simply no apologizing for it. If you don’t enjoy hops, I just don’t think there is any way that you could enjoy this beer. I find the brazenness of brewing a beer that was so extreme in this regards inspiring. As a homebrewer, this is the kind of beer that inspires me to want to emulate its style – and by this I don’t mean style in terms of classification, but style in terms of its swagger and unapologetic-ness. Hops rule the roost in this beer, no question.
Suffice to say that Harpoon wowed me with this beer, which I think is pretty cool. It makes me happy to be able to look at one of my hometown brewers and think good things about them. So now I’m looking forward to trying the Baltic Porter the next time that I see it. Let’s hope that they continue to embrace the promise of the Leviathan Series.
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Port Brewing Co. Hop 15
Port Brewing Co.’s head brewer is Tomme Arthur, the same guy who’s the head brewer at Lost Abbey. So you can assume that the beers will aim to be seriously good, maybe even knock-your-socks-off beers. And beers from both companies often fall in the category of cult beers, with many of the Lost Abbey beers and a few of the Port Brewing beers almost impossible to find.
Thankfully, they recently began brewing Hop 15 more often than the once-a-year they had previously brewed it. And since it recently won a bronze medal at the 2008 Great American Beer Festival, it’s safe to assume demand will rise a bit.
Myself, this is a beer that I’ve seen in the shops a few times but have never pulled the trigger on. So with my recent driving interest in over-the-top hoppy beers, I decided it was time to give this a try. Interestingly, when I went to buy some I also ran across a few bottles of Founders Breakfast Stout, but more on that later when I’ve gotten around to trying it (which I am admittedly anxious to do soon).
As for the Hop 15 now in my glass, the nose is dominated by hops. In fact, when I opened the bottle and began pouring the scent of hops began filling the room. At the same time, there is a definite sweet scent joining the hops. So there ends up being a mix of citrus, hop spiciness, and a sort of cotton candy sweetness. The beer itself is a very hazy orange, and the head has the look of a high-alcohol beer. It almost looks like the beer’s going to have a sort of malty sweety viscosity.
The palate is a mix of malt sweetness and hop bitterness, with the malt coming out on top by a slim margin. This is all accompanied by a hint of citrus. The alcohol stands out in the presence of the malt and sugar. And the finish is a long refrain of hop bitterness.
I had no expectations for this beer going into it, and so I’m not disappointed per se. But it’s not my style of IPA (or Double IPA). I’m definitely of the crazy-over-the-top hop leaning, really enjoying beers that deliver lots of hops, in the nose and the palate, but which do so not through relying on hop bitterness, but by brewing the beer such that hop flavor takes the upperhand, and hop bitterness plays a purely accompanying role. The best examples of this approach can deliver lots of hop flavor regardless of the alcohol level of the beer. Off the top of my head, good examples of this are Green Flash West Coast IPA, Victory Hop Wallop, and the Smuttynose (Finest Kind) IPA. All three have different alcohol levels, but they all deliver a serious load of hops, on the nose, the palate, and the finish, without burdening the beer with the sweetness or solvents of alcohol.
In any event, this beer is ok, but definitely falls outside of the range of IPAs that really get me excited. I’m glad that I’ve tried it, but don’t see myself returning to it anytime soon.
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