Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Two American IPAs today, from different sides of the admittedly broad genre. I thought it would be fun to try them side-by-side, since they were there.
The modernist wing is represented by Ska's Tropical The Hazy. If the name sounds wrong, it might help to know this is a tropical variant on their The Hazy IPA, one I reviewed, and didn't particularly like, last summer. We're not told on the rough-and-ready labelled can what it is that makes it tropical, though I note going in how different it looks compared to the original, being a friendlier, warmer orange rather than stark yellow. There's a clear fruit aroma: mandarin and apricot, so not really tropical, but suggesting lots of mouth-watering juice. The flavour is less subtle. No suggestions here, but a big and sticky cordial sweetness; perfume and Fruit Salad chews. While very artificial tasting, it's not unpleasant. That could be because it's quite atypical for a hazy IPA, being clean, for one thing, and lacking grit, garlic and caraway. There's even a little hop bitterness; a green pinch at the finish. Rather than a serious take on New England IPA, this is more a novelty fruit beer, and as such it's fine. It doesn't go overboard on the syrup and is easy but satisfying to drink. It's an IPA with a delightfully cheery disposition.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.But enough of that. The counterpoint is Sierra Nevada's Dankful, a "resinous West Coast IPA" brewed with Columbus, Chinook, Mosaic, Ekuanot, Nelson Sauvin, Zappa, Idaho 7 and whatever you're having yourself. It's 7.4% ABV, a mostly-clear amber colour and does indeed smell very pine-like, if not especially dank. So it goes with the flavour: a big ol' smack of floor cleaner and wood sap, without the more aromatic grassy feel that I count as "dank". It is pretty good, though, and does offer a fun contrast to the beer I drank just before it. No soft fruit here but plenty of hard and punchy bitterness, with enough oiliness to make it linger for ages on the tongue. There's a very retro feel, harking back to the days when brewers compared their willy sizes using IBU numbers. If you miss those days, Sierra Nevada has you covered. I'm actually reminded a little of Sierra's old old IPA, discontinued around 2007 and replaced by Torpedo. It's certainly not what's understood as West Coast IPA these days and offers more retro action than I bargained for. And sure why not?
I went into this expecting typical examples of the beers' sub-styles and came out pleased by how off-kilter they both were. We may be saturated in IPA these days but those three letters still have the power to surprise.
Clik here to view.
Two American IPAs today, from different sides of the admittedly broad genre. I thought it would be fun to try them side-by-side, since they were there.The modernist wing is represented by Ska's Tropical The Hazy. If the name sounds wrong, it might help to know this is a tropical variant on their The Hazy IPA, one I reviewed, and didn't particularly like, last summer. We're not told on the rough-and-ready labelled can what it is that makes it tropical, though I note going in how different it looks compared to the original, being a friendlier, warmer orange rather than stark yellow. There's a clear fruit aroma: mandarin and apricot, so not really tropical, but suggesting lots of mouth-watering juice. The flavour is less subtle. No suggestions here, but a big and sticky cordial sweetness; perfume and Fruit Salad chews. While very artificial tasting, it's not unpleasant. That could be because it's quite atypical for a hazy IPA, being clean, for one thing, and lacking grit, garlic and caraway. There's even a little hop bitterness; a green pinch at the finish. Rather than a serious take on New England IPA, this is more a novelty fruit beer, and as such it's fine. It doesn't go overboard on the syrup and is easy but satisfying to drink. It's an IPA with a delightfully cheery disposition.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
But enough of that. The counterpoint is Sierra Nevada's Dankful, a "resinous West Coast IPA" brewed with Columbus, Chinook, Mosaic, Ekuanot, Nelson Sauvin, Zappa, Idaho 7 and whatever you're having yourself. It's 7.4% ABV, a mostly-clear amber colour and does indeed smell very pine-like, if not especially dank. So it goes with the flavour: a big ol' smack of floor cleaner and wood sap, without the more aromatic grassy feel that I count as "dank". It is pretty good, though, and does offer a fun contrast to the beer I drank just before it. No soft fruit here but plenty of hard and punchy bitterness, with enough oiliness to make it linger for ages on the tongue. There's a very retro feel, harking back to the days when brewers compared their willy sizes using IBU numbers. If you miss those days, Sierra Nevada has you covered. I'm actually reminded a little of Sierra's old old IPA, discontinued around 2007 and replaced by Torpedo. It's certainly not what's understood as West Coast IPA these days and offers more retro action than I bargained for. And sure why not?I went into this expecting typical examples of the beers' sub-styles and came out pleased by how off-kilter they both were. We may be saturated in IPA these days but those three letters still have the power to surprise.
