Month: September 2016

Label says it’s a 102-year-old recipe from the brewery’s founder, F. X. Matt, using lighter malts. The color, however, is a bit darker than most IPAs, and the aroma fresh-poured is a sweet malty beer. They say the light malt is to let the hops “shine through” although the hoppy taste is a bit understated, compared to its peers. Then again, i did just have some of the hoppiest beer known to man yesterday, so my perceptions may be skewed.

None of the label matters in the end, it’s all about the taste. And this one is quite good. As you get deeper in the glass, the hops do shine brighter, though the beer does not become lighter. Which is a good thing. I’ve tried some of the IPLs out there, and Saranac’s own APA, and they are fuller-bodied beers and i like them a great deal because of it. In this example too, the heartier beer side of the flavor is cause for a like, although not a swoon.

Carbonation seems heavier, at least in the bottle i got; had me burping before the halfway mark. Alk content 6.5% though Saranac doesn’t think we need to know that because they hide it next to warning to drivers, preggers and machinery operators. You know, after this fourth Saranac variety, i think they really do benefit from being near the Adirondacks, and presumably easy to get at a source of good mountain spring water. All of them have a really clean taste deep inside the beer, underneath everything else.

Not a masterpiece of its genre, not so much crafty as craft-ish, but a fine beer nonetheless. Very drinkable, the hops grow in importance as the beer progresses, which means the aftertaste is factoring into the complete experience, as it should in an IPA. It’s a pleasing beer all around, i’ll give this one a 6.7 because if i had the choice, i’d prefer to buy their American Pale Ale with the thicker body and the same hops.

All that being said, the pricing weighs on my ratings for all the Saranac beers. They’re good, but a competitor outdoes most of them at the same price point. For example, Yeungling’s IPL was at $4.99 per sixer when introduced, and i snapped it up regularly at that price. Then the local monopoly grocer jacked it up to $6.99 so i stopped buying it. For that price, there are simply better beers out there for $1.14 a bottle. If Saranac can get the retail down to $6 for a sixpack then i’d be a regular customer. But at 9 bucks… meh.

Could be a great Summer IPA, at last! Sweeter than many, and the hops part of the equation is downright lemony. In fact, if you served me this IPA in a blank bottle and lied and said it was a shandy, i’d believe you. Good pale yellow color, cloudy, bright flavor and a more sane 4.5% alcohol. Yes indeed, the more i get this beer past my teeth, the more it tastes perfect for Summer. Could be because today was 85º and humid and just got off work, so any old beer might taste great rightaboutnow, funksoulbrother.

As far as body and hop elements, this won’t get high marks. Tasty but not fulfilling, and not sphinct-puckeringly hoppy. But for its purpose, it’s excellent. A light and lemony beer for a hot afternoon, and one or three before dinner won’t make you too woozy to eat. As an IPA in the species of IPA’s, this might get a 5-point-something. But because i declare it fit for a particular purpose, as a member of the beer race, the suitable rating is 7.3 and perhaps even higher on an appropriately hot afternoon. Right now it tastes like a 9, but my rational self reminds me that i am just plain thirsty today.

Update… and a week later picked up a real sixer of Bonobos, instead of the 4 bottles which came in my sampler “Primate Pack” from CB CraftBrewing. It holds up, all the elements are there even on an unduressed palate. It’s official, this is the Beer Of Summer for 2016.