I've been anything but an IPA guy for as long as I've been drinking beer. I was on the West Coast of the US for over a decade and tried multiple times to get into them, but they were all so pine-y and resin-y. And aside from enjoying the occasional Pliny, the beers I had turned me off IPAs for so long. Recently, in between drinking delicious pilsners, lagers, hefeweizen, dunkelweizen, et cetera, I've had an itch to try some IPAs again. Since I'm on the East Coast now, I did some research and figure out that hazy IPAs are the way to go for me, and ones with Citra hops are my best bet. So, I got my hands on some Lawson's Hazy Rays, and what do you know? I actually really enjoyed it! The citrus-y, tropical aroma and taste was absolutely lovely, and it was such a smooth beer as well. My next stop is Other Half's All Citra Everything!
Probably a good hazy IPA to start with. Lawson’s tends to lean farther from hazy IPAs than most New England brewers. Last week, I stocked up at Treehouse and the two ‘quadruple’ IPAs have an almost overwhelming amount of fruitiness.
New release from Treehouse. Supposed to be somewhere between NE and WC, and it does avoid the extremes of both. Not so fruity, not so bitter . Overall a good beer.
I saw that they have a spot up in Saratoga Springs, NY, which is only about an hour and a half from where I'm at. I think I'll drive over and grab some Julius, that sounds like a good next step. Although I did get the Other Half All Citra in the meantime, and I will hopefully get in Grimm Ales Lambo next week.
I also realized I still have a single 4-pack of Mortalis Lightning on my beer wall; I'll grab that before someone else does.
A respite from all the hazy Treehouse IPAs I’ve been having. I first revised this in 2017, probably at the brewery. Surprising for Vermont, but an old style, in your face, bitter IPA.
Drinking Shepherd Neame India Pale Ale. I haven't had this one before and since it showed up on monopoly shelves recently I thought I would try it. I had their Christmas Ale this last Christmas, which has become a yearly tradition for me, and I greatly enjoy the taste of that beer, but it has been years since I last had their other beers such as Bishop's Finger and Spitfire etc. This beer is similar to their Christmas Ale I would say, with a similar mix of caramel malt, hop bitterness (though clearly elevated in this beer compared with the Christmas Ale), and a distinct English, flowery hop taste (again, elevated compared to their Christmas Ale, as one would expect for an IPA). The hops are quite apparent in the taste, even though they aren't at the level of a typical, run of the mill American IPA. They are aromatic in both aroma and taste and clearly English. The bitterness is quite refreshing, even if again it isn't at the level of a typical American IPA (as per the brewery the IBUs are 40, as per the Finnish alcohol monopoly which conducts independent analyses of the beers sold the IBUs are 39, which is quite close to what is being advertised (at 13% plato as per the analysis). For English conditions this is certainly a distinctly more hoppy, and bitter beer than that of a typical circa 10P/1.040, 4% abv, 25-30 IBUs bitter. The hops are quite apparent I would say. In both aroma, taste, and bitterness. If one's expectations are that of a modern English IPA. And a very tasty one at that, I would buy this again without hesitation. As per the ingredients list the beer uses glucose syrup as an ingredient.
Their Saratoga Springs site is really a nice spot. When I went it wasn’t crowded and was really relaxed. The bartender was willing to give you as many samples as you wanted, and they had lots of cans for sale,
That’s a good one. Haven’t had in a while. Perhaps it’s time to revisit. I like Cimmerian Sabertooh Berzerker myself. Cheers!!
