Anchorage Vacation
21st Amendment Brewery

Review dated 3/30/2009.

On tap at 21st Amendment. Man I love this style, and this was a great example. Golden color with a frothy white head. Heavenly aroma of citrusy hops and Belgian yeast. Flavor is more of the same, balanced by sweet caramel malt and I’m guessing some pale malt in there too. Smooth and medium-bodied with hop oils on the palate. Incredibly drinkable for the ABV.

Tasted at the 6th Annual Triple Rock Firkin Fest on 4/4/2009. This Belgian Style Imperial IPA pours a medium orange color from the Firkin. Medium sized white foamy head. The aroma is orange, sweet, grapefruity and estery. A medium bodied Imperial IPA. The malts are fruity and sweet. Hops are citrusy and grapefruity. Nice soft carbonation. A nice meld of an IPA and Belgian Strong Ale. Big fruity esters and kick you in the teeth hops, yet nicely balanced. Hides the alcohol very well. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is bitter.

Had on tap in a tulip glass. It poured a crisp golden tan, more pale ale than IPA in color, with a thin white head. The smell and taste were both assertive "west coast" hops, with a very crisp, dry finish. The pines had a distinct pine flavor, with some smokiness. The belgian yeast esthers were completely absent to me. The alcohol was also almost completely hidden. A good beer I was happy to have tried.

Looks like they brewed this with Midnight Sun, Gabe & Ben's recipe brewed here on their visit to San Fran. Which kind of confused me at first, as I would have thought would have resulted in a name like Anchorage Vacationers, or San Fran Vacation...but I digress. Anyways, 95 IBUs.

Served in a generic tulip, AK-VK is a clear dark gold with a white head that leaves heavy lace.

Smell is a big blast of American hops, that is what I want to smell in a BIPA, west coast style! Strait Simcoe and Amarillo, lots of cedar and pine notes.

Taste is bright hops, pine resin, firm but not overwhelming bitterness. Strong but clean alcohol character. There's a nice toasted bread note, some caramel, nice Belgian esters, on the fruity side which I really dig.

Mouthfeel is dry and light, saison like.

Drinkability is high, this is my style of BIPA, in fact similar to one I homebrew - fruit esters, high attenuation and big west coast hops. Gratuitous alcohol that you'd only know after you had one to many, this is the best beer I've had in San Francisco so far.