OK, i have to deduct one full point from my rating here, because of the horror of SA’s Grapefruit IPA which refuses to leave me, even after a couple weeks. And i’m sticking to my promise: i will never buy any Samuel Adams product again, until they publicly apologize for putting grapefruit juice into beer.
This is a good IPA, however. At a strong 7.3% alk, with 76 IBU’s, and i now know what an IBU is, thanks to an article in a local weekly about local craft breweries. It’s a real beer, with fully malted barley and finished with darn heavy hops, but it does go a little overboard on the hops, a problem which SA’s exquisite 48ยบ Latitude IPA does not suffer from.
Nicely drinkable here, smooth texture in the mouth and rich beer body underneath the cloak of hops. But that 7.3% keeps it from being a “kickin back” beer. There’s really no point in running that race anymore, the Hoppier Than Thou race is over and Sierra Nevada has won. But this one got a mention on the final leaderboard, and that’s something to cheer up someone’s Grandma.
After deducting the Sam Adams Grapefruit Penalty, this Cascade IPA rates a 7.2 for quality brewing and attention to ingredients.