Archive for the tag “American IPA”

16 Jun 2012

Aprihop – Dogfish Head

7.0% ABV
Purchased at Taylor’s Market ($9.99/4-pack of 12 oz. bottles) and poured into tulip glasses.

His Notes:

This seasonal offering from Dogfish Head pours a burnt orange with a sizable off-white head, and a strong nose of fleshy apricots – in fact, it’s like walking through an apricot orchard in the middle of harvesting season.  Apricots also dominate the palette, but it’s leavened with a honey-caramel sweetness backed up by a substantial amount of hops. Aprihop is a refreshing take on the summer IPA, and unlike the similarly fruit-inflected Sam Adams Whitewater IPA, the tastes here are refined and don’t reek of gimmickry. Like so many Dogfish Head brews, Aprihop manages to combine disparate and seemingly discordant ingredients into a harmonious whole.

  4 Toasts

Her Notes:

  4 Toasts


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05 Jan 2012

Sculpin IPA (Ballast Point)

7.0% ABV
Purchased at Pangaea and served in tulip glasses.

His Notes:

This beloved IPA from San Diego-based Ballast Point pours honey gold with a billowy white head.  It has the sweet, airy aroma of a peach orchard, with some citrus, bananas, and cotton candy also in the mix. Sweetness is dominant on the palette, but it’s the natural sweetness of fresh fruit, mixed in with hay and dew-soaked grass.  Citrus fruits (mostly oranges and grapefruits) are also present, along with a potent but not overpowering hoppiness.  Surprisingly, it’s the hop bitterness that sticks to your tongue, gradually growing in intensity until the next sweet sip.  Sculpin is an IPA masterpiece that comes on slow and sweet, but it uses that resin bitterness to wallop your tongue into sublime submission.

  5 Toasts

Her Notes:

  4 Toasts


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04 Jan 2012

Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere Harvest Ale 2011

6.7% ABV
Purchased at Taylor’s Market ($5.99/24 oz. bottle) and served in pint glasses

His Notes:

Made entirely with hops less than 24 hours removed from the vine, this special release pours clover honey orange with a large and fluffy white head.  The well-rounded nose is filled with sweet pine, melon, and the zest of lemons and grapefruits.  Northern Hemisphere Harvest Ale stuns you with its incredibly fresh flavors, which offer an intriguing jumble of homemade honey, oily pine, lemony citrus, dewy grass, and even a pineapple mint taste that can be credited to the wet Washington hops.  It’s pleasantly herbal without being cute or overbearing, and the hop bitterness is extremely refined, with definite fresh herbs coming to the fore.  The overall effect is drinkable and refreshing, but with an impetuous youthfulness that lends it an unexpected complexity.

   4 1/2 Toasts

Her Notes:

  5 Toasts


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