Beer Club April 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010 at 5:08PM Beer Club
April 2010 Session
India Pale Ales
One of my coworkers hosted a beer club at his home recently. The inaugural meeting of the Beer Club featured 13 different India Pale Ales [Type 30 Beeriodic Table]. I did not manage to taste all of them, 13 was just too hoppy for my tastebuds to retain any feeling at all. Every so often, I enjoy an IPA, but it is not my favorite style, and the Magistra will have nothing to do with them. Thus, keep that preference in mind with the following ratings. Here is what we tried:
Deschutes Brewery Inversion IPA
Inversion IPA
I started the evening with an Inversion IPA from Deschutes Brewery. I had a nice cheeseburger for dinner, and you can see the Magistra's homemade Oreo™-style cookies behind the Inversion. The Inversion was pretty strong, 6.8% ABV, and strongly hopped, as expected. It has an evergreen scent, and is a dark amber color. I give this one a three on the six-pack scale, I could imagine buying a six-pack of Inversion when I get a hankering for an IPA.
Bombers
Once dinner was finished, we began the tasting. The tasting progressed mostly from least to most hoppy, in an attempt to actually taste the beers.
Port Brewing Company Wipeout IPA
First up was Port Brewing Company's Wipeout IPA. This brewery also makes the Lost Abbey abbey-style ales. You can see it being opened in the picture. This is a pretty mild IPA, with a floral scent. 7.0% ABV. Golden color, and very smooth. I liked this IPA more than usual, I give it two beers. The smooth mild flavor makes it more to my liking than the typical punch-you-in-the-face hoppiness that is the style these days.
Ballast Point Big Eye IPA
Ballast Point Brewing Company, another Southern California microbrewery, so it is unsurprising that the beer tastes similar to theWipeout IPA. I liked this one less however, it was less floral, and less sweet than the Wipeout. Tasting them so close together may have been a mistake. Golden, 6.0% ABV. Four beers. I wouldn't seek this one out unless I was desparate.
Odell Brewing IPA
Odell IPA
This IPA reminded me strongly of mead. Odell Brewing is in Fort Collins, CO, so it is quite different than the preceding beers. Orange color, 7.0% ABV. Slightly sweet, if that is the word. IPAs are not really sweet, but I struggle to describe it exactly. Meady is the best I can do. Two beers, I would definitely get this one again.
Lagunitas IPA
Lagunitas IPA
I've had Lagunitas IPA on tap before, so there were no real surprises here. I find it a little bit sour. Another SoCal IPA. 5.7% ABV.
North Coast Brewing Acme IPA
We ended up with the Acme IPA solely because it had a pinup girl on the label. Pours cloudy, like an unfiltered wheat beer, 6.5% ABV. My notes started getting hazy at this point. I'm not really the type to taste and spit, so the later the evening gets, the less detail there is.
Green Flash West Coast IPA
This was my contribution to the tasting. It had a sweet finish after strong bitter hops. This was actually pretty good, despite its bitterness. Of course, by this point, I'm not sure I could taste bitter any longer. 7.0% ABV
Dogfish Head IPA
This is Dogfish Head's 60 minute IPA. 6.0% ABV
Other beers of the evening included Stone IPA and Ruination IPA, and Deschutes Hop Henge IPA. These are all very bitter, even by IPA standards, so I held off on these. Thanks to Henry for hosting the evening, and I'm looking forward to next month.
Ben Espen
;)
April 2010 Beer Lineup
The host of the beer club was kind enough to send me this picture of all the IPAs we sampled. Thanks Henry!
