Dogfish Head Aprihop

Brewery: Dogfish Head Brewing Company
Style: IPA
ABV: 7.0%
Country: USA, Delaware

Since the last Dogfish head turned out to be a massive disappointment, I had high hopes for this one to restore my opinion. This one poured a bright copper color with a big head and lingering lace. Aroma was similar to other Dogfish IPAs. Citrus was prevalent along with pine resins, apricot was present as well. The first sip was full of plenty of malt flavor. Apricot flavor was certainly noticeable and provided a nice sweetness that mixed with the hop flavors from the aroma. Finish was dry and crisp with the apricot living a linger taste. Bitterness wasn't as strong as I would have expected for an IPA, but it was certainly felt. The body was smooth and creamy making this an easy beer to sip down. It'll be easy to finish off the rest of the four-pack. B

Loose Cannon Hop^3 IPA

Brewery: Clipper City Brewing Company
Style: American IPA
AB: 7.5%
Country: USA, Maryland

Bright copper orange color. Cristal clear with a nice fluffy white head. Lots of lacing is left along the glass the entire way down. Big citrusy aroma that is spicy and creamy at the same time. Taste is similar to the aroma, lots of citrus hops and resin flavors. Hefty amount of bready malts round up the finish along with a pleasing bitterness. Creamy mouth feel and a spicy level of carbonation are both good features. The only real knock against this is there is a noticeable astringency from the alcohol that is present in both the aroma and the taste. Otherwise, this is a well done beer. B+

Long Hammer IPA

Brewery: Red Hook Brewing Company
Style: IPA (supposedly)
ABV: 6.50%
Country: USA, New Hampshire

Bright and pale golden and clear color with a thick and bubbly white head that dissipates fairly quickly. Some citrus and pine hop aroma. Some of the citrus flavors up front but the flavor dissipated rather quickly. Transitions to some bready malts and some spicy bitterness to round things out. This is really weak to be called an IPA. The biggest redeeming quality of this brew is that it has a good level of alcohol that is concealed. Other than that, this is a weak excuse for an IPA. This beer is forgettable and nothing special. D

Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA

Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Style: IPA
ABV: 7.20%
Country: USA, California

Happened to be at my local grocery store and was in need of beer. There was a mix and match six-pack section so I bit. Not a wide variety of craft beer, but enough non Bud/Coors/Miller beers to make it worth while. Sierra Nevada is one of the original American craft brewers that started in the late 70s and early 80s. Their Pale Ale is their flagship brew that will have to make an appearance on these pages soon.

Poured a bright orange that was nice and clear leaving a thin white head. The aroma was of citrus and pine. Not a super powerful aroma like most IPAs, but still noticeable. Perhaps a lack of dry-hopping. Dry and bitter up front with plenty of malt backbone. Less overtly hoppy than most IPAs but still contains a good wave of bitterness. Ends dry, bitter, and a good bit of bready malts. Not a typical IPA for sure, but still tasty. Very refreshing and quite drinkable. No trace of alcohol, I'd be easy to have too many of these too quickly. A-

Stone IPA

Brewery: Stone Brewing Company
Style: IPA
ABV: 6.9%
Country: USA, California

Another beer from Stone and another IPA. Sounds like a match made in heaven.

Poured a bright golden orange. Thick white head that lingered a long time. Looked like a yummy textbook IPA. Aroma had plenty of the standard citrus aromas along with some piney hops present. Plenty of sweet malts upfront. Citrus and herbal from the aroma are both present. Transitions into a nice and dry bitter finish. Alcohol is hidden well. Body and carbonation are at a Overall another solid entry from the guys at Stone. B+

Mikkeller Simcoe Single Hop IPA

Brewery: Mikkeller
Style: American IPA
ABV: 6.90%
Country: Denmark

The simcoe hop is a more recent hop variety that is unique to America. The wonderful Hopslam uses a large amount of simcoe when dry-hopping to help give it its wonderful flavor. With no access to Hopslam throughout the year, I was eager to find something that might act as methadone to help me make it to next January. I saw this at Whole Foods, saw simcoe in the title, and I was sold.

Poured a dark and hazy caramel color. Huge and fluffy head stayed thick the entire time. Weak aroma, was mostly yeasty. Some odd notes that I hadn't smelled before. None of the yummy pine notes that were present in the Hopslam. Quite unpleasant. Taste was equally unpleasant, more yeast and other flavors that can best be described as stale and dank. Some bitterness but I felt like I had a gym sock stuffed in my mouth. I couldn't finish this and about half of the bottle found a new home in the kitchen sink drain. The search will continue. F

Flying Dog Raging Bitch

Brewery: Flying Dog Brewing Company
Style: Belgian IPA
ABV: 8.30%
Country: USA, Maryland

Raging Bitch is the first beer from Flying Dog I've had since working my way through the variety pack. This is one of the more well known beers from Flying Dog and has been earning itself a good reputation since it was released in 2003.

Poured this into my tulip glass which has been getting plenty of use as of late. Left plenty of foamy head and a nice, lingering lace. Color was a bright and clear caramel.

Aroma had plenty of citrus hops. A Bit different from the standard grapefruit cascade hop variety. This has more of a lemon pepper aroma to it.

Sweet caramel hops with a bit of honey malt presence up front. Plenty of dark and fruity flavors throughout, raisins and apricots were the first two to come to mind. Left a nice lingering bitterness that wasn't overpowering. The body had a buttery and creamy feeling that tasted fantastic. Couldn't taste the alcohol, but it made its presence felt with a nice warming spiciness. This is a great sipper and worthy of its reputation. A-

Racer 5 India Pale Ale

Brewery: Bear Republic Brewing Company
Style: IPA
ABV: 7%
Country: USA, California

Bright amber color and clear. Bottle conditioned so yeast and other particulate is visible. Nice head, about a finger thick which left plenty of lace and rings going down.

Aroma is sticky sweet with a lush wave of grapefruit and pineapple with a little bit of earthiness to it. Tons of dry-hopping going on here, very pleasant to smell.

Sweet malty taste. Plenty of citrus notes from the aroma are present while sipping. Body is nice and velvety. Some creamy banana-like flavors show up in the middle. Light carbonation keeps this pleasant to swirl around. Finish is a pleasing dry bitterness. Goes down nice and easy. This is on the stronger end of the IPA spectrum and is close to becoming an Imperial IPA. Flavors are nice and balanced that is a bit more sweet than bitter. This is a fantastic beer that I'll certainly need to drink more of. A

Fat Head's Head Hunter

Brewery: Fat Head's Brewery
Style: IPA
ABV: 7.9%
Country: USA, Pennsylvania

Mar and I were in Pittsburgh for the Winter Classic on New Years day and had gotten a recommendation to check out Fathead's Saloon located down on Carson St. This place was absolutely fantastic. Fathead's boasts 42 different beers on tap from places such as Stone, Dogfish Head, Founders, and Bell's. They also include about half a dozen house brews on tap from a wide array of styles. Food here was fantastic as well. Lots of different burgers and sandwiches including sandwiches picked by Maxim as the best in the country.

The first beer I had here was the Head Hunter IPA which was a silver medal winner at the 2010 Great American Beer Fest. It poured a bright amber color with a hint of orange. The head was thin and wispy that didn't linger long.

This had the most unique aroma of all the beers I've had so far. A big wave of sharp pine with basil, thyme, and other herbs in the background. I'd always heard of pine hop aromas before, but this was the most pronounced by a mile. A wonderful smell for sure.

Taste was as pine filled as the aroma. If you managed to turn a Christmas tree into a beer, it would taste a heck of a lot like this beer. Fruity hops made an appearance as well with plenty if pineapple, grapefruit, and lemon present. A mouth puckering wave of bitterness finished this off and lingered around a long time. This was listed at 89 IBU but tasted almost as bitter as the Stone Ruination IPA which is listed at 100+ IBU. This goes to illustrate how important the malt sweetness and hop bitterness balance out. A bit more malt would go a long way to make this a bit more balanced. Overall though, this was a fantastic beer that I would drink again in a heartbeat. If you are ever in the Pittsburgh area, do yourself a favor and check this place out and get yourself a glass or two (or three). A

Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale

Another Christmas beer? What do you want from me... it's a seasonal! This beer was packed with flavor, and was interesting to me since I'm still working on appreciating hoppy beers.

This beer is a typical IPA and comes in at 6.8% ABV and is full of character. It has a very citrus-like aroma when poured, with a backdrop of hoppy scent. At first taste, you get smacked in the face with the hoppy notes, while noticing that they are more of the floral hop taste rather than the bitter kind. That sweetness stays with you between sips and is very nice indeed. There is a very slight hint of Christmas spices in this beer, which are overwhelmed by the hoppy nature of an IPA.

Though it is a higher ABV than a lot of "normal" American beers, this beer goes down easily and you could probably enjoy a few of these.

I give this beer a solid B+. I might be able to give it a higher rating if I were more appreciative of the hoppy nature of this IPA, but I am still developing a taste for these kind of beers. Hopefully we'll get Alex or Roy to chime in on this one, as it gets a lot of rave reviews in the online world of beer.

-Bo

Snake Dog IPA

Brewer: Flying Dog
Style: India Pale Ale
ABV: 7.1%
Country: USA, Maryland

Beer 101: The India Pale Ale gets its name not because it was brewed in India, but because it was a pale ale that was brewed for British soldiers stationed in India during the 18th century. To survive the long sea voyage, the pale ale was loaded up with more hops (which are a natural preservative) and fermented to have a higher alcohol content (another wonderful, natural preservative). The result is a big, bold, brew with a long shelf life. An IPA will have lots of floral hop aromas and a big bitter finish (60+ IBUs). The next step in the food chain is the Imperial/Double IPA which has even more malt, more hops, and more alcohol than a standard IPA. Imperial IPAs will have IBUs over 70 and an ABVs well over 7%. This style has been recently popular among American microbreweries and is easy to find, a hophead's dream come true.


Poured a rich golden bronze. Had a thick, off-white head that left plenty of lingering lace.

The aroma was what you'd expect for an IPA. Plenty of sweet citrus notes with a bit of pine. It tasted just like it smelled which is a good thing. Big flavor with plenty of hops but no surprises. A nice bitter finish does a good job of evening out the sweet malts.

So far this is one of the better of the Flying Dog ales. This also serves as a good measuring stick to compare other IPAs to. Not boring but nothing unique. A solid B