India Pale Ale

I haven't had much luck finding a Saranac beer that I like... They all sound pretty good as first, look appetizing and smell like they've done everything write. It's only when I take a drink that it all goes south. I went into Saranac's India Pale Ale with fairly low expectations... Being an IPA from Saranac doesn't exactly strike me as a beer I'd be likely to enjoy. I tried to keep an open mind however, pouring this beer into tall glass to develop a nice head and bring out the aroma. What I found in this glass of Saranac was pretty intriguing.

If you think terroir is a load of BS, you probably skip this review. You see, this bottle of Sierra Nevada's Estate Brewers Harvest Ale is all about brewing locally and using ingredients produced by Sierra Nevada. The idea is that by being able to control the conditions and quality of the hops and barley, the brewers at Sierra Nevada will be able to create a beer that has a unique sense of place and taste like it came from Chico, California. If that isn't terroir, I don't know what is.

Michigan Brewing Company's High Seas India Pale Ale really wowed me. I can't say I'm in love with this beer, but it was definitely a surprise. This beer is every bit an IPA, it's beer and hoppy. It smells like citrus scented hops and light grains, just like you'd expect. Where this beer differentiates itself from other IPAs is the flavor. Sure, you can taste hops, hops and more hops... that's just part of being an India Pale Ale. What I wasn't expecting was the sweet malt flavor that greets you when you take your first sip.

Oh look, it's another holiday season IPA... Granted, Rogue doesn't market their Yellow Snow IPA as a Christmas beer, but it's still an IPA that's meant for wintertime consumption. Maybe I'm crazy but I just don't see the appeal of an IPA when it's below freezing outside. But enough about preconceived notions, how does this beer look, smell and taste? Does it feel like a holiday beer? How would it stack up against turkey and all the fixings?

You know, I like to think that my ideal picture of Christmas is pretty mainstream. My list of favorite Christmastime things includes eggnog, chocolate covered pretzels, fudge, stuffing and so on. Something that has never ever crossed my mind in regards to festive holiday season flavors would have to be India Pale Ales. Maybe it's just me, but I prefer to eat and drink rich, sweet and savory things during the holidays... Bitter IPAs just don't sound appetizing when I get into Christmas mode. I mean, I can totally see having egg nog in one hand and a Vanilla Porter in the other hand. If you haven't caught on yet, Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale is an IPA, a hoppy and bitter beer that I want no where near my turkey and gravy. Gross...

It just doesn't get much more generic than ACME. ACME is to brand names what John Doe is to missing persons. The name ACME conjures up images from the old Roadrunner cartoons where Wile E. Coyote buys a defective product via mail order catalog... not exactly the sort of brand recognition you'd want if you were a marketer. I'm being a little facetious here because the ACME name was used in honor of the old ACME Brewing Company that used to be in San Francisco, so it wasn't like the marketing geniuses at North Coast sat around thinking of a new name for their IPA and this is the best they could do. That being said... this is they best they could do? I can respect them wanting to pay respect to a predecessor but did they really need to name their beer "John Doe IPA"...

For me it really came down to just two beers... Of all the beers brewed in honor of Barack Obama's inauguration there were only two which had clever enough names that I'd bother searching for them. The first was Cambridge Brewing's The Audacity of Hops and the other was Avery's Ale to the Chief. I was less enthusiastic about drinking The Audacity of Hops because I just knew it was going to be a big I.P.A. with a name like that... A couple weeks back I was surprised to find a bottle of Ale to the Chief at the local liquor store and decided to pick one up. It wasn't until later that I find out this was an Imperial I.P.A., arguably the most audacious of the hoppy beers. But I figure I owe it to our new President, and the even the country, to drink this I.P.A. and judge it in a non-partisan way. So how was the Ale to the Chief? It's big, it smells funny and it's totally in your face. In other words, it's 100% American.

Dogfish Head's 60 Minute IPA is the Goldilocks of India Pale Ales... and I mean that in a good way. The 60 Minute IPA isn't too hoppy, or too malty. It's not too bitter, too floral or too sweet. For all intents and purposes, Dogfish's 60 Minute India Pale Ale is just right. This is actually the first Dogfish Head beer I've been able to get my hands on so I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. I'd head a lot about the brewery itself and how they are pushing the envelope with some interesting styles of beer. My fear was that they're IPA was going to be too hoppy and too bitter to be enjoyable. You see, when people usually talk about pushing boundaries when it comes to Pale Ales what they really mean is that the brewer just doesn't know when to STOP adding hops. I'm quite glad that my fears, in regard to the 60 Minute IPA, are unfounded. This beer is really quite delightful.

Avery's Maharaja is a very solid India Pale Ale. In fact, it's down right strong... With an ABV of 10.3% this beer isn't fooling around. Not only that, but the Maharaja is packing a ton of hops so be prepared. When you take your first sip of the Maharaja you're hit with a bag of hop pellets. It's pretty intense, but the flavor profile is quite a bit more complex than your initial read might let on. If the hops don't deter you then you'll find a subtle honey notes and a fair bit of caramel malt. If you can just make it past that first bombardment on your tastebuds, you'll be rewarded. But that really begs the question, "Why have all the hops in the first place?" Well, the beer's great aroma is due in large part to the abundance of hops. It's all part of being an IPA, without all these hops your beer just wouldn't have made the long trip to India...

I first had the Schalfly Export India Pale Ale at the Schlafly Taproom in Saint Louis this summer. Not only was the Export I.P.A. on tap but they were serving it from the cask. Normally, I don't order I.P.A.s when I go out - since they aren't really my favorite style of beer to drink. Since my goal for the summer was to find an I.P.A. that I genuinely enjoyed, I was felt compelled to order the cask I.P.A., and I'm glad I did. Very first impressions of the Export I.P.A. were great, it was served in a snifter after all. The taste of this beer was quite remarkable, it wasn't like any I.P.A. I'd had before. Schlafly managed to make a very balanced I.P.A. ...well, very balanced FOR an I.P.A., meaning it's not just a hop bomb. The Export I.P.A. has plenty of sweet flavors to balance out the spicy and harsh hops that come with being an India Pale Ale.