Tag Archives: IPA

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Bell’s Two Hearted Ale

Bell's Two Hearted AleAs a life-long resident of Columbus, Ohio, graduate of THE Ohio State University and die-hard Buckeye fan, I don’t freely give compliments to “that state up North.” I must begrudgingly give credit where credit is due, though, when it comes to Bell’s Brewery. All kidding aside, Bell’s produces some of the best beer around and every beer of theirs that I have tired has been of top-notch quality. Bell’s Two Hearted Ale is their IPA offering and is one of their most popular brews (for good reason).

The pour is gold-orange color with about a finger of off-white head. Retention is fair, leaving behind a small ring of suds around the edge of the glass. There is not much lacing to speak of.

The aroma is full of tropical fruits and hops. I get a lot of orange, grapefruit and apricots. I also get some pine and other floral notes. There is slight hint of some caramel malt aroma hiding here as well. Finally, there is a bit of a boozy note mixed in.

This beer is sweet up front, but not overly so. The tropical fruit flavors are very prominent with the grapefruit and apricots taking center stage while pineapple and peach tag along. There is bit malt sweetness along with some pine notes, as well. The hops give a nice bite of bitterness on the pallet, but it’s not the huge barrage of bitterness you may experience with other IPAs.

The body on Two Hearted is medium with a creamy mouthfeel. There is a bit of booze taste on the finish that leaves the pallet mildly dry and wanting more.

Bell’s Two Hearted Ale is a year-round offering and widely available in the Mid-West and Eastern states. Two Hearted is also often readily available on tap. Although it isn’t as big and bold and many other IPAs out there, this is a high quality beer that is a refreshing change of pace from the many overly hopped IPAs and DIPAs popping up today.

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Dogfish Head 75 Minute IPA

Dogfish Head 75 Minute IPADogfish Head 75 Minute IPA is much more than just a mid-way point between the popular 60 and the 90 Minute IPAs. The Delaware-based brewery does a number of things differently with this limited-release beer to make it a truly special brew. Maple Syrup is added to the beer and it is bottle conditioned (which is another way of saying it is allowed to ferment in the bottle). It is also dry-hopped with cascade hops to give the aroma a little extra hop kick.

The pour gives way to a vibrant orange beer with some moderate haze. This haziness is the by-product of the bottle conditioning. There is a lot of sediment in the bottom of the bottle, so pour with care. My pour yielded several fingers of creamy, off-white head with decent lacing and retention.

Being dry-hopped, this beer has a strong hop nose, but it’s also very complex. There’s definitely some sweetness in the aroma, perhaps from the maple syrup, and the hops give the beer a really great citrus blast. It also has a very earthy undertone, with lots of pine and floral notes.

Up front, the 75 minute IPA is quite sweet, and I can taste a bit of yeast and bread. The piney and floral earthiness in the aroma comes though in the taste as well. There is only a very faint hint of maple syrup in the taste, with is a little disappointing. It’s quite hoppy, but unlike beers that more aggressively hopped (Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, for example), the hops in this beer gradually sneak up on the pallet rather than bombard it, and the bitterness lingers for a while. The hops also impart a wonderful grapefruit and orange flavor to the brew.

This a full-bodied beer with a very creamy mouthfeel and moderate carbonation. The finish is a bit sticky and dry with very little boozy taste.

I really enjoyed this beer. It has a unique flavor profile and a great aroma. This is a limited release specialty brew from Dogfish Head, so you may have trouble finding it. If you’re lucky enough to get your hands on some, let me know what you think. Cheers!

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A New Batch of Stone Enjoy By IPA Is On It’s Way

Stone Enjoy By IPAIt looks like Stone Brewing Company already has a new batch of Enjoy By IPA ready to be bottled. Their last batch was released last week with an “Enjoy By” date of 04.01.13, and it has been widely popular for good reason; it was delicious! According to Stone’s website, this latest batch is scheduled to be bottled on March 20 and will be distributed immediately follow. The newest batch will have an “Enjoy By” date of 04.20.13.

The fun thing about the Enjoy By series is that the distribution areas are determined by crowd-sourcing. Fans of the beer can vote for their city via Facebook  Twitter and Instagram by using a hash-tag with their city or state.

The newest batch of Stone Enjoy By IPA will be limited to just seven distribution areas; Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Las Vegas, Missouri, Sacramento and Washington. Sadly, that means none coming my way this time around. If you’re lucky enough to live in one of those locations, expect the newest shipment of Enjoy By IPA to hit your local bottle shop sometime after March 20. In the meantime, I’ll wait patiently whilst voting incessantly for Ohio to be included in the next round.

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Stone Enjoy By IPA

Stone Enjoy By 4.1.13 IPAAny regular reader of Rough Draught knows that I am a hop-head. I absolutely love a huge, hoppy IPA. When I learned of the release date of the latest iteration of Stone Brewing Company’s Enjoy By series, there was no way I was going to pass it up. My local bottle shop, Savor Market in Clintonville, OH, just received their shipment today. I took a trip there promptly after work to claim my stake to one of these masterpieces, and lucky for me, they still had plenty in stock. As much as I would have liked to drink the whole bomber myself, a beer this good is meant to be shared. Therefore, I waited for my brother to show at my house to partake with me. The wait was every bit worth it!

The beer pours a perfectly clear, amber color that looks almost exactly like apple juice. There was about one finger of white head that disappeared relatively quickly. Tiny bubbles can be seen floating to the surface, releasing one of the most mouth-watering aromas I’ve experienced in an IPA.

This beer smells like an IPA, except everything about it seems to be magnified. The aroma is dominated by an overload of hops. There are other scents underneath all of the hops, but it takes some concentration to pick them out. I get a lot of earthy and pine notes, as well as some citrus, notably oranges, grapefruit  and even some pineapple. It is very floral as well. This particular batch of Enjoy By was bottled on February 22, 2013, so my bottle is exactly one week old. That means this is an extremely fresh brew, and it’s reflected in the strikingly fresh aroma. This beer smells huge!

This IPA has one of the more robust flavors I can recall. Just like the aroma, everything in the flavor is magnified several factors above your typical, run-of-the-mill IPA. And the freshness is amazing, which is exactly what Stone is going for with this brew. The hops are very intense, but in a very flavorful kind of way. The bitterness is not as overpowering as I would have expected. Don’t let that fool you though; this beer is still very bitter and will delight any hop-head. There are a lot of flavors going on in here, too. There is a tiny bit of sweetness upfront, and following that I get a strong resin flavor combined with the pine from the aroma. The citrus is quite bold and reminds me a little of orange and pineapple juices. Finally, I can taste a bit of the floral notes I detected in the aroma.

This beer is, indeed, huge. It’s full bodied, medium carbonation, and feels really creamy. It’s also quite sticky, and the hops linger on the pallet long after you’re done sipping, leaving my mouth quite dry. At 9.4% ABV, this IPA give very little warmth from the alcohol, but that could be because it is mostly masked by the huge hops flavor.

I can’t say enough about the Enjoy By IPA by Stone Brewing Company. This is the first in the series I have been fortunate enough to try and I absolutely love it. Sadly, mine is all gone, but hurry over to your local bottle shop, and if you’re lucky you might be able to get your hands on a bomber of your own. Cheers!

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Ballast Point Sculpin IPA

Ballast Point Sculpin IPAI’m almost ashamed to admit that I had never heard of Ballast Point Brewing, much less their Sculpin IPA, prior to this tasting. My brother picked some up and, after doing some research, I realized I should have become acquainted with this brew a long time ago. Ballast Point Sculpin IPA boasts a score of 98 on Beer Advocate, and comes in at number 36 on their list of the 250 top beers. I was anxious to give it a try and to see if lives up the high praise.

A vigorous pour into my glass reveals a very clear, vibrant orange beer with about two fingers of white head.The retention is lacking, but there is decent lacing on the glass. This is a highly carbonated beer, which is evident by watching all the little bubbles float to the top of the glass.

The first scent that greets my nose is the unmistakable aroma of hops. There is also a considerable amount of citrus in the aroma in the form of grapefruit and pineapple. I also get a lot of pine and some floral notes.  This is very easily identifiable as an IPA, and it’s complexity is refreshing.

To go along with the complex aroma, Sculpin IPA packs a very complex flavor profile as well. There are a lot of fruits here, including orange, mango and pineapple, and this adds a bit of sweetness to the initial taste. The pine and floral notes from the aroma really shine through in the taste as well. In the middle I taste some bread malts. This beer is really aggressively hopped and bitterness is impressive but not overpowering. The finish is long and dry with a moderate level of alcohol warmth. It feels creamy, a bit oily and highly carbonated.

Overall, this is an exceptionally well balanced beer. The flavor is complex and exceeding interesting. Also, at just 7% ABV, it’s an easy beer to enjoy over and over again. I’m a little disappointing that I’m just now discovering this gem, but I’m glad I finally did. Although I may not be able to rate it quite as highly its rating on Beer Advocate, I’ll certainly be coming back to Sculpin IPA again and again.

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Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous

Sublimely Self-Righteous is a Black IPA (emphasis on BLACK!) by Stone Brewing Company. I don’t think this this beer really needs any more introduction than that. Let’s get to it.

This beer is black. Jet black, even. When held up to light, there is a deep, reddish amber around the edges of the glass, but not much light is getting through. It pours with an average amount of head and lacing is very good. This beer is definitely eye candy.

But it’s beer, so it’s not made to look at; it’s made to drink. And you want to drink this one. Like all Stone beers, this is a beer that really pushes the envelope a particular style. This is an IPA, and it’s a beer by Stone, so the hops really hit you in the face. But there is also a nice balance with the malts as well. I really enjoy the blend of coffee and caramel flavors in the malts. It finishes a dry, and at 8.7% ABV, there’s only a slight burn from the alcohol. The hops, though, do linger a bit on the pallet.

This beer is a masterpiece, and yet another gem by Stone Brewing. If you’re a beer-lover and have never had Sublimely Self-Righteous, do yourself a favor and do so immediately!

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Avery Brewing IPA

It’s no secret at this point that I love IPAs. Avery, however, was not a brewery that I was familiar with until very recently. I was at a local pub and they happened to have Avery IPA on tap, and since I’m always up for trying a new IPA I gave it a shot. In short, I loved it, but when I when back, they had switched the tap to Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA (which is not at all a bad thing). Yesterday, whilst perusing World Market, I spotted, much to my delight, a six-pack of Avery IPA. $9.99 later, I was a happy man.

Avery IPA looks just like what you would expect from a really good IPA; rich, amber color with lots of creamy, white head. Head retention and lacing are above average. What really strikes me about this beer’s appearance, however, is just how crystal clear it is, as you can see from the photo above.

The aroma is heavy with caramel malt and citrus fruitiness. There is certainly some hops present, but mostly this is a sweet-smelling beer. Much of the aroma comes out in the palate as well. The beer is sweet with plenty of caramel and citrus flavors. The bite from the hops is not nearly as intense as some other IPAs I’ve had, but I don’t necessarily consider that a bad thing for this beer. It has as smooth, creamy texture that makes it an extremely easy beer to drink. Also, this beer lacks some of the warmth from the alcohol that you experience with, say, a Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA.

I love a good IPA, and this is certainly a good IPA. It may not pack the same punch as some other really intense IPAs, but I think I like it for that very reason. The flavor has everything I love about an IPA without being so intense that I feel like my taste buds are fried after just a couple glasses/bottles. This is an IPA I feel I could easily drink two or three of and still thoroughly enjoy. One final note, I’ve had Avery IPA both on tap and from a bottle and I much prefer it on tap. So, if you’ve tried Avery IPA, let me know what you think, and if not, go out and get some.

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My First Growler

I have considered myself to be a beer enthusiast for quite some time. I have tried hundreds craft beers from scores of breweries, I have studied the many styles of beer, and I have even brewed my own. However, I’ve never owned a growler, which is a must-have for any true beer enthusiast.

I picked up my first growler a couple weekends ago while in Rochester, New York. I went to a local grocery store in search a particular beer that is not available in Columbus and, unfortunately, struck out. However, I didn’t leave empty-handed. Just before settling on a 6-pack of Summer Shandy (never a bad choice in it’s own right given the heat), I notice an entire section of growlers from a local brewery, Rohrbach’s Brewing Company. This was an unusual sight for me because I’m not aware any grocery stores in Columbus that sell growlers. The store had about a half dozen choices, and I chose the Railroad Street IPA.

Railroad Street IPA poured an amber, copper color with minimal head and retention. There was a fair amount of lacing left on the glass, though. The aroma was fairly true to style with plenty of citruy hops, but it was also had a distinct caramel malt note. The flavor followed the aroma pretty closely, having a heavier malt flavor than I expected for an IPA (granted, I should have been prepared for this given the description on the label). My overall impression is that this is a good beer and I’d be happy to drink it again, although it won’t rank near the top of my favorite IPA’s.

Now that I’ve finished off the Railroad Street IPA, it’s time to go out and put my new growler to good use. There are a number of brewpubs, restaurants and specialty shops in and around the Columbus area that sell and fill growlers and, since I’m generally partial to beer on tap, I’m looking forward to the opportunity to enjoy draught beer at home.

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Victory Hop Devil IPA

It’s no secret to any regular readers of this blog that was love IPA’s, and Victory Brewing Company’s Hop Devil just might top the list.

This beer pours a hazy golden, amber color with plenty of creamy white head that lingers on the class quite well. The aroma full of spicy, citric hops that stings the nostrils a bit, with grapefruit being a prominent fixture. Hidden beneath the onslaught of hops is a surprising sweet smell with perhaps a bit of honey.

I love when I try a new beer and the first sip blows me away. This beer does just that. Hops, hops, and more hops! The spicy citric hops unleash an bombardment of awesomeness whilst the sweet malts work quietly in the background. While this is a very aggressively hopped beer, it’s incredibly smooth and easy to drink. The bitterness from the hops bites hard on the palate but it’s nicely balanced with the smoothness and the subtle sweetness of the malts. Unlike some other IPA’s I’ve had, Hop Devil lacks the warm alcohol taste on the finish, for which I’ll score another point in the Win column for this beer.

Simply put, Hop Devil a top-notch, world-class beer. It’s crowing achievement is maintaining incredible drinkability despite being so over-hopped. Victory makes the most of it’s extreme use of hops by allowing the strong citrus notes shine without being unbearably bitter. This is truly a masterpiece and a must-try for every IPA lover, if not for every beer lover.

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Elevator Brewery Three Frogs IPA

Elevator Brewery and Draught Haus is another local brewery here in Columbus, Ohio. Three Frogs IPA is one of their many year-round offerings available on tap at the Draught Haus and bottled. My particular offering was a bottle purchased at a local grocery store.

It pours a hazy amber color with about one finger of creamy, off-white head. Retention and lacing were both fair. The aroma is packed with a lot of citrus and floral hops along with some caramel malt. I also picked up a note of alcohol in the aroma.

Despite the aroma, this is not the the most aggressively hopped IPA I’ve every had. The citrus hops are definitely at work with hints of apricot and grapefruit, but the caramel malt flavor is bit more noticeable than I expected. This is actually one of the sweeter IPA’s I’ve tasted which is interesting and enjoyable. There is decent amount of bite from the hops on the finish, though, with a small amount warmth from the alcohol left behind. This is a medium bodied beer with a creamy (if not a bit oily) texture and medium carbonation.

While this IPA is not going to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, or even Harpoon IPA, it is a very solid beer that I wouldn’t think twice about drinking again.