The Storm Is Coming! Sharks Beware...

Dogfish Head Squall IPA (bottle conditioned 90min)

So, after fishing for sharks a week or 2 ago, I decided to the best way to celebrate my 50 pound brown shark was to watch Discovery Channel’s Shark Week and drink a Dogfish Head beer. I know that I could have gone with a Land Shark Lager, but nooo thank you, I’ll pass and besides, Dogfish are actually sharks too. Anyways, I happened to have a bottle of Squall so I busted it out and enjoyed watching sharks tear apart some bait and then watched Air Jaws in ‘Ultra Slow Motion’. Good day.

So quick recap, the Dogfish Head IPA Family (as far as I know) consists of 60 min, 75 min, 90 min, 120min, Burton Baton, and Squall. (let me know if I missed any) And I can officially say the Squall so far is my favorite, it definitely replaces my former favorite, Burton Baton, which is also another variation of the 90 min IPA. Makes me wonder what a bottle-conditioned Burton Baton would taste like....?

The aging process of the Squall definitely smooths out and balances the flavors of the 90 min. The overpowering sweetness of the 90 min has been turned into a nice subtle bite in the aftertaste. The sticky, sugary mouth-feel is nice as well and lingers for the perfect amount of time.


QUICK TASTE

Dogfish Head Squall IPA

Milton, DE

ABV%: 9.00

Beer Style: Double IPA

Appearance: A dark golden brown with a slight red tinge, thin white head

Aromatics: Citrus candy and tangerine smell, malty and carmelly

Taste: Sweet and hoppy, citrus hops and you can taste some spices used in brewing

Notes: Another great addition to the DFH IPA Family. Brewed to honor the Rogue Gallery in Portland, Maine, who released a DFH-designed clothing line in the summer of '09.

Score: 94

Wham, Bam, Thank You Ma'am

Victory Hop Wallop

I just got walloped - Hop Walloped to be exact (it was an obvious pun, but it had to happen) - by Victory's robust, year round Imperial IPA offering. 

Bearing the image of the legendary coal miner Horace "Hop" Wallop (he's fictional, just FYI if you get upset when you don't find his name on wikipedia) this delicious beer pours a golden yellow color with about a finger of head. 

When I went in to smell it I was immediately hit with a strong aroma of grapefruit with some piney undertones, possibly from the use of Cascade hops (?). I'd heard of grapefruit being a taste present in many IPAs but never was it so obvious for me as in the Hop Wallop. 

Not being a huge grapefruit fan, I wondered how that character would carry over to the taste, but upon drinking it was very pleasantly surprised at just how great the flavor was. Its very hoppy while managing to remain well balanced. The finish is especially great; the zingy hop flavor sits on the palate and back of the throat for some time allowing you to really enjoy the complex flavors. As the beer warms the flavor continues to evolve, staying very hoppy, but becoming more and more balanced. 

All in all an great offering from an great Philly brewery.

-Andrew

QUICK TASTE

Victory Hop Wallop

Downingtown, PA 

American Double/Imperial IPA

8.5% ABV

Appearance: golden yellow with low carbonation

Aromatics: stroooong smell of grapefruit with spicy piney undertones

Taste: very crisp on the tongue, bright

nice lingering finish, zingy hop flavor stays on the palate and back of throat for quite some time

Notes: Delicious, one of my more favorite Imperial IPAs due to the fact that its hoppy, but not mind-blowingly so

87/100

America and The UK together again...

... OK, at least working together.

Stone (famous for Arrogant Bastard and other big character beers) teamed up with Brew Dog (famous for the former world's strongest beer, Tactical Nuclear Penguin) to create a Belgian Style Double IPA.
If you take everything you know about Stone and everything you expect from a Belgian style black beer you'll end up with Bashah.

When I poured it I initially noticed the dark, dark brown color, and the lighter brown head.

The aroma of the beer is about what I expected from the combination of the dark look and from a Belgian. Its dominated by the fruity sweet smells of a belgian dark, but with definite smokey undertones.

The taste is like no other beer I've ever had... it was good, and I enjoyed it, but I had to wait for it to warm up for a bit before I could dissect the flavors. It has a rich fruit and light chocolate flavors, and smokey undertones that I smelled that are caused by the roasted malt. This very light smokey flavor that is not overpowering or dominating at all and are very pleasant. The combination is very nice and well balanced.

When two of the most progressive and dedicated breweries in the world combine their powers anything could happen. In this case they not only hit the target but they blew it up like a Nuclear Penguin, or a stone hitting Goliath... or something like that... I'd have to but this beer up pretty high on my list of all time favorite beers.



- Nathan

QUICK TASTE

Stone & Brew Dog Bashah
Scotland/California


ABV% 8.6


Belgian Style Double IPA

Appearance: Dark brown, almost black; Lighter brown head


Aromatics: Sweet fruit and smoke


Taste: Light hops, dominating fruity and smokey malt taste

Notes: A Scotland-brewed, combined effort between Stone and Brew Dog is exactly what you'd expect from great breweries like these two. Worth hunting down and paying a little extra for. It also has a pretty sweet label...

One of the top beers on my list I gave this beer a 93.

Mom... Theres a 400 Pound Monkey under my bed...

With a name like "400 Pound Monkey" I thought I might be facing a badass crazy hoppy Imperial IPA. Well, I should have known better due to it being billed as an English IPA, but I tend to be a slow learner, especially when my mind is allowed to stray towards the arena of huge, lineman-sized monkeys. 

Either way, this Monkey was not the best beer that I've ever had, but certainly a very tasty and sessionable (yeah, using a buzzword, so shoot me) English IPA that'll sneak up on you with its deceptively high ABV (almost 7%). 

It poured a light golden yellow with a nice, small head and had a very understated aroma. Herbaly(?) hops were definitely the first aroma I got, with a little bit of citrus mixed in. 

The taste followed in just the same manner, with a forefront of subtle pine notes and some lemony citrus bite afterwards. As I usually find with IPAs, the flavors are enhanced as the beer warms and the Monkey was no exception. The flavor became better and better with every sip, but no one flavor ever took over the show. 

All in all, a very well balanced B+ grade English IPA. If you want to enjoy an IPA but can't handle something like a Double Dry-hopped Arrogant Bastard, this one is a great starter with which to begin understanding the nuances of the style. And trust me, I should know... I'm a total wuss when it comes to extremely hoppy beers... and I totally liked the Monkey.

- Andrew


QUICK TASTE

Left Hand Brewing Company 400 Pound Monkey 

Longmont, CO

ABV 6.70%

English IPA

Appearance: Light golden yellow with a quickly diminishing 1-2 finger head

Aromatics: Quite subtle, with herbal smelling hops

Taste: Fairly thick mouthfeel for an IPA. Lower bitterness, as would be expected from the English style, yet still maintains a nice dry, citrusy finish. A few different flavors coming out, from pine to an almost lemon-honey flavor. Well balanced though, so no one flavor dominated.

Notes: A great "beginner" IPA due to its non-overwhelming hoppiness and nice bright flavor. A tasty, above average representation of an English IPA. 86/100.

Midwest IPAs: Hops From The Heartland

Zeno's has recently had Founders Centennial IPA, Darkhorse Crooked Tree IPA, and Bell's Two Hearted Ale (also an IPA) on tap. All three of these are from Michigan and all three are high quality India Pale Ales. But which of these three is the best? ... well that's up to you... I'd had the Centennial and the Two Hearted before, but my only experince with Darkhorse was their Perkulator Coffee Dobblebock. To be honest, I'm not a coffee fan, and I didn't really enjoy the beer, so i really had no idea what else to expect from the brewery. However, when I ordered a pint after a shift at Zeno's and one of the bartenders also gave me a taste of the Bells Two Hearted to compare it to, it impressed me greatly. This comparison gave me the idea for this post. I figured why not throw in the third brewery, Founders, and try all three.
I have to admit, it took me three or four attempts to detect the subtle difference between the Crooked Tree and the Centennial. They both share a very similar color, aroma, and taste. Their tastes are flowery and citrus notes are both the bulk of the flavor and the aroma. The largest difference here is the finish, with the Crooked Tree having a slightly more pine flavor to the finish. Bell's Two Hearted is probably the boldest of the three flavors with the strong grapefruit flavor. All three of the beers have great flavors that linger a while, allowing the smooth, yet dry, finish to become more present.


As far as appearance, from dark to light: the Centennial is the more typical Amber colored AIPA, followed by the more orange colored Crooked Tree, with and the Bells coming in as the lightest.


The Bells is certainly the most balanced and strongest flavor of the group, with the other two not far behind. The Centennial was the smoothest, with the Crooked Tree somewhere in the middle.


So - long story short... the decision for these beers comes down to what flavor notes you want to experience... For me, I typically like the citrusy notes and the mouth feel of the hops, but in this case the transition from the citrus flavors to the pine in the Crooked Tree was just too nice for me to vote against. So, personally, I'd have to give it to the Crooked Tree in this one.


- Nathan