Category Archives: American IPA

5 - Excellent (must buy), American IPA, Ballast Point Brewing Company, Beer Reviews, USA

Ballast Point Sculpin IPA

Tuesday, 18 August 2015 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Ballast Point Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: 70 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A trophy beer that’s a testament to our homebrew roots. Our Sculpin IPA is a great example of what got us into brewing in the first place. After years of experimenting, we knew hopping an ale at five separate stages would produce something special. The result ended up being this gold medal-winning IPA, whose inspired use of hops creates hints of apricot, peach, mango and lemon flavors, but still pack a bit of a sting. Just like a Sculpin.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.77
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.6

Intro: A 22 fl oz bomber with a bottled code date of 15063 which means 4th March 2015, and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: The beer poured a very nice clear golden orange colour with a two and a half finger white head that dissipates slowly leaving a thin foamy layer and thick lacing.
Aroma: Nice strong aromas with tropical mango and peach strongest followed by apricot, citrus orange and some pine.
Taste: Starts with citrus grapefruit and some light bready malts, followed by tropical fruits mainly mango, apricot and pineapple, hints of pine and finishes with bitter grapefruit once more.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with medium carbonation and very refreshing
Overall: Stunning and absolutely loved it. One of the best IPA’s out there in my opinion. A definite must buy for me. And now I just need to try an even fresher version.

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

Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA

Friday, 14 August 2015 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 7.2%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: 65 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from bottle) At Sierra Nevada we take hops seriously. Torpedo Extra IPA starts with the world’s finest whole-cone hops and intensifies their flavors with a little magic from our “Hop Torpedo”. The torpedo is a revolutionary method of dry hopping that brings this beer alive with a rush of complex hop aromas and flavors not found in any other beer.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.12
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a packaged date of 14th May 2015 and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: The beer poured a very nice deep clear copper colour with a one and a half finger slightly off white head that dissipates slowly to a thin soapy layer while leaving some nice stringy lacing.
Aroma: Pine and citrus grapefruit dominate with a hint of orange.
Taste: Sweet malts, caramel to start followed by citrus grapefruit and pine and hints of tropical fruits.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with medium to high carbonation.
Overall: A nice IPA that is crisp and refreshing. I would buy this again.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, USA

Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest Fresh Hop IPA

Thursday, 6 August 2015 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 6.7%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: Brewed with southern hemisphere hops, 100-day IPA, drink fresh, don’t store. The second of five beers in the 2015 Harvest series.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) We’re devoted to whole-cone hops, and we’re always on the hunt for rare and exciting hop flavors. Mirroring the fall US harvest, New Zealand hops peak during our spring. Southern Hemisphere, the second in our five-bottle Harvest series, highlights floral, citrus and fresh fruity aromas from fresh hops picked, dried and shipped halfway across the world and into our brew kettle in one week. Drink this IPA fresh and watch for the rest of this series that explores diverse hopping methods: single hop, fresh hop, wet hop and wild hop.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 2.53
My ratebeer.com rating: 2.5

Intro: 2015 version. A 22oz bomber with a packaged date of 27th April 2015 i.e. day 99 for this 100-day IPA and poured into an IPA glass.
Appearance: The beer poured a clear amber ice tea colour with a big three finger off white cream head that lasts a long long time and leaves lots of lacing.
Aroma: Its all quite light as nothing stands out. Just some light caramel malts and maybe just a bit of apple, pear and pine.
Taste: For an IPA, this is rather malt driven. Initially sweet caramel and candied sugar followed by slightly bready, buscuity malt. It finishes with some floral hop bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: I prefer SN’s other IPA offerings over this one as the malt is overpowering here. The aromas were also a little light for me.

4 - Good (buy), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Denmark, To Øl

To Øl First Frontier IPA

Tuesday, 4 August 2015 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: To Øl
Country: Denmark
ABV: 7.1%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: Hops – Warrior, Simcoe, Centennial. Brewed at De Proef Brouwerij, Belgium.

Brewer Description: (from website) First Frontier” We all got pieces of crazy in us, some bigger pieces than other” The thing about First Frontier is the hops. Easy… This is an IPA “the American way”, no sticky-sweet malt profile, just the real deal potent and aromatic hops. The result is a refreshingly dry, fresh and bitter IPA, heavily dryhopped with the three American hop varieties warrior, simcoe and centennial, dealing a punch of citrus, peach and grapefruit from the deepest of our hearts directly to ya face. Just added a bit of caramel malt; merely to harness and balance the alcohol.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.87
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 330ml bottle dated best before 1st October 2016 and poured into an IPA glass.
Appearance: The beer poured a slightly hazy golden orange with a huge cream head that dissipated slowly leaving lots of stringy lacing.
Aroma: Piney hops with some pineapple and citrus grapefruit. Light caramel malts to finish.
Taste: Taste follows the nose with citrus grapefruit and caramel dominating followed by a piney hop finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with light to medium carbonation.
Overall: This IPA is worth a try. While not at the top of its style, it is still very refreshing on a hot summer day.

5 - Excellent (must buy), 8 Wired Brewing Co., American IPA, Beer Reviews, New Zealand

8 Wired Hopwired IPA

Thursday, 16 April 2015 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: 8 Wired Brewing Co.
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 7.3%
Style: IPA
Other Notes: Brewed at Renaissance Brewing for 8 Wired Brewing Co.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Hopwired was one of the first, true new world IPAs made exclusively with unique NZ hops. In its short life time it has become a modern classic among Kiwi craft beers. Since then, many other IPAs have emerged but we dare say this is still somewhat the benchmark.
Although there is plenty of malt sweetness, this beer is all about the hops. Punchy, aggressive, New Zealand hops that all add up to create wonderful, tropical flavours and aromas. Wine people would talk about waves of passionfruit, limes, tangelos & gooseberries. Luckily we don’t have to go to such detail, so you can just enjoy it without further complication.
Cheers – Soren Eriksen – Brewer

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.65
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.5

Intro: A 500ml bottle dated best before 1st October 2015 was poured into a pint glass.
Appearance: The beer poured a hazy copper amber colour with a one and a half finger head with good retention leaving nice stringy lacing.
Aroma: Immediate aroma was of pine, grapefruit and lime followed by lots of tropical fruits like mango and pineapple.
Taste: Taste was malt caramel sweetness followed by tropical fruit flavours especially mango, pineapple and orange finishing with a nice bitter pine and grapefruit.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, medium carbonation, and a slight sticky feeling.
Overall: A very nice balanced IPA. The sweet malts and tropical fruit flavours make it a must buy for me.

words of another dreamy traveller