Second Degree IPA
Wormtown Brewery

 

 

had on tap at Peppercorns.

Nice creamy 1 finger head fades slowly with sticky lacing, hazy tan golden orange colored beer.

Nose is loaded with fresh hops and tropical fruit, light grapefruit, mango, passion fruit, guava, light musty fresh hop resins, hint of tangerine citrus, and touch of pine. Also some light sweet malts.

Taste starts with more hops, bit resinous fresh musty hops that quickly move to fruit, some tropical fruits with light papaya, mango, passion fruit, etc, and very light citrus. Bit of fluffy candy hop oils and juicy fruits. Malts give a nice base with a light crystal malt but mostly pale with a light sweetness to balance the big bitterness. As it moves towards the finish a light pine and herbal hop kick in, and dries out quite a bit with long bitterness, light malty taste, and more fruity juicy and light spicy hops. The tropical fruit disappeared fairly early on, and then the beer teases on the edge of briny and astringent.

Mouth is med full bodied, good carb.

Overall good, nice hops esp at the beginning and esp the nose, the hops fade off a bit to more earthy east cost ipa as the beer progresses, and a light sweet malty base helps balance it well. Drinkable and tasty. I could see drinking a few of these.

This sucker, according to the guys at Wormtown has 99+IBUs. This was another collaboration with Amherst Brewing Company and Northampton Brewery. Comically enough it was named after the second degree burns Ben got while trying to drain the kettle full of hops. American Pale and specialty barley combine with MA and American grown hops. Lets see...hops involved include: Cascade and Galena from Divolli's Farm in Royalston, MA and Chinook, Centennial, Amarillo, Simcoe, and Citra. Poured into a mug club glass.

A - Poured a hazy orange hue with a nice one finger super dense and sudsy head that leaves massive side lacing.

S - Sweet zombie Jesus. This is a grapefruit assault. Massive assertive pink grapefruit assaults the nose. A candi malt sweetness is there but for the most part this is sticking your face in a crate of fresh pink grapefruits!

T - Wow what a beer. More of that pink grapefruit rind that overwhelms the sweet malts. Its slightly dank and oily but still is like drinking a tea brewed with just grapefruit skin. No other hops deeply come through just the super enjoyable flavors of grapefruit.

M - Nicely carbonated with a good clean finish. Slightly oily and dry this leaves my mouth wanting more..alot more.

O - Overall I was yet again impressed with this beer. An excellent collaboration from three great breweries. If one doesn't like grapefruit then this ipa would be rather eh but...if you like grapefruit this is a great beer full of delicious fresh flavors and especially aromas. I love this beer.