Another “session” IPA and now i’m so proud of myself for knowing what that means! Now that i know it’s designed for drinking at work, i think i need a new job. On the other hand this one introduces a new and mysterious beerword term: 11.5º PLATO. They try to describe it as “how big the beer will be”, but i got 12 ounces, so i figger i’m beating 11.5 plato’s already, and i don’t even know what a plato is. Hah, so there!
No, i’m not as dumb as all that. What they call “bigness” is what i call the “body” of a beer, the sturdiness of the malted beverage indicates how much hoppiness they can cram in there before it starts to separate. Or congeal, or, whatever a beer does when it can’t hold its hops.
True to be called a Session IPA, this is spot on the nose at 4.5% alk, so SN is just squeaking by under the limbo bar here. I like cushions, so i would’ve made it 4.4%, but hey, they do what they want, they have the vats and the permits and licenses.
The color is a nice gold, dark gold, not “straw” but not into amberland. And the body does indeed bear the welts from beating some hearty malts into submission. Great solidity, you can feel it in the mouth and taste it under the hops as well. I like that they were able to do this at 4.5% alcohol and still find room for serious hoppys.
The aroma is a bit reminiscent of a wet dog who’s been rolling in something that was not purely mud, not trying to be insulting here, but it’s a tad like rodent droppings. Luckily, none of that aroma carries over into the taste. The taste is really very excellent. This one’s not going to shake up my Top Five IPA’s, but i do like it very much.
What SN was trying to do here, they pulled off in spades. It’s a low-alk IPA with great body and crafty attention to hops, somehow they knew just how much hops they could plug in here, and they did. It must be that Plato guy who told them. Taste is refreshing, yes, all those flowery words like “tropical ” they use on the label come through. This hop profile is a little less piney and more fruity, less citrusy and more plummy. Nectariney?
A great Summer beer, i’ll put this right behind the Bonobo in 2nd place for a Summer beer. Most of all, i am really impressed by what SN did here. The nose is awful, but the taste is supreme. I have to give this a 7.3 for a body that holds up but is lighter than what my belly craves, and hops that are finely done but lighter than what my tongue loves.
If you are looking for a Summer beer and can’t get the Bonobo where you live, then try for this 11.5º Plato, it should have a wider distribution than Bonobo.