Category Archives: Country

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Epic Brewing Company, USA

Epic New England Style IPA (Pulp Addiction)

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Brewery: Epic Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: “Praise the haze”

Brewer Description: (from website) These juicy, hazy, hop bombs are packed to the brim with flavor. In fact, we’ve been downright irresponsible when it comes to hop utilization. Our brewers have been experimenting with everything from lupulin powder, to massive hop backs, exploring the flavor synergies of fermentation hopping, and literally cramming in more dry hops then our tanks can even hold. Our New England-Style IPA rotates through different recipes as and hop charges as we source new and interesting hop verities. See the side of the can for indicators about each new recipe.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.74
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 12 fl. oz. can, with no canned on or best before date “doctor’s orders”. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A nice hazy mango orange colour with a just over one finger white head that had pretty good retention and left some lacing.
Aroma: Lots of orange, orange pulp, orange juice, orange rind with hints of cantaloupe and maybe even some lemon liqueur.
Taste: Lightly juicy, lightly bitter, orange pulp, orange rind, apricot, cantaloupe with hints of mango.
Mouthfeel: Moderately creamy, light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Not bad and quite refreshing, but not quite as juicy as some of the best NEIPAs.

4 - Good (buy), American Triple IPA, Beer Reviews, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, USA

Sierra Nevada Hoptimum 2018 Edition

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Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 9.6%
Style: American Triple IPA
Other Notes: Distinguished yet devilishly hoppy. 65 IBUs. Malts – Two-row Pale, Wheat and Flaked Oats. Hops – Crystal, Ekuanot, Strata, Simcoe, Citra, Mosaic and Loral

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Every year, we try to top ourselves by making the hoppiest, most intense and most flavorful IPA we can muster. This year, we chose the most flavorful hops and pushed them beyond their limits in this all-new triple IPA. This reimagined Hoptimum is our hoppiest beer yet, providing a blend of tropical and citrus hop aroma that delivers a refined yet aggressive character.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.98
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 12 fl. oz. bottle, packaged on 18th May 2018. Poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: A very nice clear copper amber colour with a just over two finger off white head with great retention that left behind some nice lacing.
Aroma: Pine, grapefruit rind, orange, lime zest and light caramel malt.
Taste: Sweet caramel malt, bitter grapefruit, citrus rind, candied orange and a light booziness.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Looks great with good aromas. Taste was also nice but it would’ve been even better if the light booziness could be hidden behind the pine or fruit. Having said that, it is a Triple IPA, so you do kind of expect it to be strong.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Brasserie Popihn, France

Popihn IPA Amarillo / Citra / Mosaic

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Brewery: Brasserie Popihn
Country: France
ABV: 6.2%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: 40 IBU

Brewer Description: (from bottle) IPA – Amarillo / Citra / Mosaic.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.71
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.5

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 5th November 2018. Poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: A hazy dark orange yellow colour with a huge uncontrollable head that just goes crazy no matter how careful or slowly you pour it. Retention of the head was excellent but quite frankly in this case it was really annoying as I barely poured anything into the glass before the head just exploded and this meant it took forever to pour even a decent amount of beer into the glass. Lacing was ok.
Aroma: Tropical melon, guava, passionfruit followed by citrusy orange and grapefruit rind and even a touch of unripe mango at the end.
Taste: Lightly bitter, grapefruit and orange pith, with hints of melon, guava and passionfruit.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Interesting flavours of guava, passionfruit and melon, but the pour was just troublesome.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Gose - Fruit, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, USA

Sierra Nevada Otra Vez with Lime & Agave

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Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 4.9%
Style: Gose – Fruit
Other Notes: 6 IBUs. Malts – Two-row Pale and Wheat. Hops – Magnum. Others – Lime and Agave

Brewer Description: (from website) A well-balanced, tart, and refreshing ale. We combined the classic flavors of lime and blue agave nectar in a tart gose-style beer for the ultimate answer to the heavy heat of the day. The bright lime flavor helps wake up the palate while the mild sweetness of the agave rounds out the tangy zip of the citrus fruit. Light and refreshing, this all-new Otra Vez will have you calling for another round.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.3
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 12 fl. oz. can, packaged on 9th May 2018. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A very lightly hazy, but mostly clear golden colour with an almost two finger white head that had decent retention, but only left sparse lacing.
Aroma: Sweet, tangy and tart, lime, hard candy, agave with a hint of wheat.
Taste: Like the aroma, it is sweet, tangy and tart. It’s got your classic hard candy flavours, and then imagine the flavours mixed. Lime comes out on top though with a light saltiness to balance.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate to low carbonation.
Overall: To be honest, I don’t remember what the original tasted like, but I enjoy this version. The flavour is right up my alley, and overall it was just clean and super refreshing for my palate especially on a hot summer day like today.

4 - Good (buy), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, USA

Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing IPA

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Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 6.7%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: 40 IBUs. Malts – Two-row Pale, Munich, Oats and Wheat. Hops – Magnum, Citra, Comet, Simcoe, El Dorado and Mosaic

Brewer Description: (from website) A hop-heavy, unfiltered, hazy little thing called IPA. As brewers, we get the privilege to sample our beers straight from the tanks in all their raw glory. Some beers need a little polishing to get ready to go out into the world, while others—the hop-heavy, rowdy, crowd-pleasers—should just be left alone. We wanted to share this brewery-only treat with you, so we present this Hazy Little Thing, our unfiltered, unprocessed IPA, straight from the tanks and into the can.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.08
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 12 fl. oz. can, packaged on 21st May 2018. Poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden orange colour with a big almost three finger white head that had good retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Orange, mandarin, lemon, citrus zest and rind, pine with hints of bread.
Taste: Lightly bitter, orange, grapefruit, citrus rind, pine with a hint of mango.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nice, refreshing and easy to drink.