Tag: IPA

Good start to the experience with some humor on the outside of the bottle (non-twist cap says “Tools Required”), and when opened, the insides smell promising. And i was not misled. This is a mighty fine IPA. Rounded beer body gives a rich creamy dimension to the hops side of the equation, without tamping down the tartness. In fact, there’s nothing getting in the way of these hops. They don’t brag about species or blends of hops on the packaging, Full Sail just does it. It does claim that the IPA is “Ridiculously Tasty” but it’s not bragging if it’s true.

Not a sipper’s IPA, i felt zero guilt about greedily gulping this one down, and it was not even a hot day. Luckily, at a reasonable 6.0% alk, there’s nothing for a gulper to fear. Very well balanced taste sockets: low sweetness, high hops, real wort flavor survives the brewing. Highly recommend this one even though i don’t want to, it’s an East-West thing. Full Sail is from Oregon and i’m in New York, so naturally i’ll root for my peeps. Not as bad as a Biggie/Tupac feud, but this Oregonian winner evens the battle for tops in hops.

The previous 3 were Smuttynose Finestkind from Maine and Sam Adams’s 48º from Boston, and Sierra Nevada’s Hop Hunter IPA out of Cali. Now with another West Coaster in the elevated echelon, we’re all even, Steven.

Thank god they don’t brew good beer in Missouri, ahem, or we’d be headed towards another messy Compromise, and we all know how the first one turned out. Full Sail’s IPA rates a 9.2 on my tastebuds, and those buds may not be for you.

Billed on the bottle as using 4 types of hops and 3 kinds of malts, and in teeny tiny print, a warning of sorts: this IPA is packing a sweltering 8.2% alcohol. That must be the 2X they’re talking about, because the taste is neither extremely hoppy nor whole-beer malty. Good balance of sweet and pointy hops, even if the latter is not really sharply hopped, is it a little pointy. Can taste the alk underneath the beer, not as dire as some malt liquors on the market, but certainly there.

So with this alk it’s not a great hot-day refreshment, but not bad for a cooler Spring evening when there’s nothing attractive to drive to. Sedate hops, not bright and burning, a slight citrusy hint but more like pine than lemon. OK as a beer, but no reason to buy this as long as Smuttynose is still making Finestkind. My rating of 5.6 takes into account the lower hops and higher brainwreck potential.

Billed as “continuously hopped” and i’m not sure what that’s supposed to do for the beer, but i’ve had hoppier. A little tangy on the beer side of the equation, almost like you can taste the stainless steel it was brewed in. The hop side of the formula is bright but blunt, gets citrus on you and grasps at the tart ring but that’s just out of its clutches.

A sweet lemony flavor, think Lemonheads not Sour Patches. Halfway through the pint, the sweetness grows up and leaves the hops behind. At 6% alk this won’t brew your brain, but still strong enough to respect. By no means a terrible thing, but nothing here really stands out. Aftertaste fades too quickly and the body is light. Tastes like it would make a great pairing with white fish for dinner, but not a beer adventure on its own. I’ll call this one at 5.2, for being unremarkable yet $10 bux a six, and that’s on sale.

Yet another IPA from the prolific people at Southern Tier, not too bad an attempt at the balance which Smuttynose has discovered. A darker aspect tells about heavier grains seared longer, the hops are clear and solid, and the sugars are also the lower notes on the scale, from a darker malt allowed to cook a deeper brown.

The heavier malts give this one a meatier taste in the mouth, and there’s some hints of toast playing off the sour hops, a nice touch. At 4.5% alcohol, this one is not going to toast your brain, and it’s refreshing in the way that old-tyme beer was refreshing, by being a meal where the water is bad and the workday is long. Have to give it an 8.1 for yumminess.

Make mine slutty! Ooops, the slogan is “Make mine a Smutty”. Same difference, really. Kidding aside, don’t be put off by two lounging geezers on the label, this here IPA is a true winner. Perfect balance of beeriness and hoppiness, a body that makes you want to make a sealskin coat out of it and a flavor that makes you wish your own nose was as smutty as the brewery’s pinnipedal mascot.

Almost a creamy top note to the flavor, like you’re scooping it right out of a barrel freshly arrived in India. The beer side of it has barely enough sweetness to make the hop side of the palette truly “citrusy” in a way that others only claim to. And Smuttynose doesn’t claim to, they actually do it, and without crowing about it, which is also great.

The lighter malt wedded to good hops, might be an intentionally faster fermentation which leaves more sugars in it, the overall balance of components makes this one of the top IPA’s i have tried. It’s a buzzy one at 6.9% alcohol, but very refreshing. Now i know why the geezers on the label look so giddy. Fitting that they made up a new word for this one: “finestkind”. A great IPA, in my book it rates a lofty 9.7 for exquisite balance.

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And to update this review, now more than 3 months later, this is still and truly the best IPA i have tasted and tested to date. Note that 9.7 rating above, and remember it. By now, have reviewed 60+ IPA’s and 9.7 is the highest rating i’ve given to anything. Smuttynose Finestkind is the tops!

The standard India Pale Ale from Southern Tier Brewing, the nose is crisp but weak, the taste brings more malt flavor than their “Live” ale. Both ales mention 4 malts and 4 hops on the label, but this one favors the grains over the cones. Still nicely hopped, just not sour-face hoppy.

A good rounded feel in the mouth, overall a better ale than the “Live” one, with the balance more on being a beer than being hoppier-than-thou. 7.0% alcohol here, so prolly not the best drink to relax on a hot day, but in New York you’re not melting on the porch for 9 months, only three. So low on hops, but nice real-beer taste.

The longer you sip it, the more lingering the taste of hops is, and i think this means they used pretty fresh hops. I’d call this one a nice round 8.0 for, well, well-roundedness.

Pretty good, label calls it “citrusy” which i didn’t even know was a word, but does have those hints of tang from hops, which could mimic, on a good day, some soury fruit. Hey, if they can make up words like citrusy, then i can make up “soury”. Slightly cloudy in its quite-pale color, the nose is tangier than the taste, which is a little sweet. On the whole, a fine hoppy beer which the label also calls a “session ale” and i confess i haven’t the foggiest idea what that means. Good taste, nice refreshment with the sweetness, 5.6% alcohol in this bottle, i’d give this one a 7.7.