Midnight Sun Brewing Co.: XXX Black Double IPA

I don't really know anything about Alsaka's brewing tradition. I don't even know if it has a brewing tradition. But apparently there is at least one beer from Alaska in addition to Alaskan Amber--Midnight Sun Brewing Co.'s Black IPA. And I have to say, it kicks Alaskan Amber's ass.

I am very hit and miss with IPAs. I like the big bold hop flavors, but too often, I think, brewers are content to rest on a tastebud-obliterating dose of the stuff and give the other flavors short shrift. Not so here. Midnight Sun's Black IPA is actually very reminiscent of a traditional porter--a sweet/smoky malt flavor that maybe has some sort of dark fruit flavors in there. But whereas porters are generally not all that hoppy, this Black IPA follows on with a wallop of hops. Fortunately, the hops do not approach Ruination levels, leaving your tastebuds alive to enjoy the next sip.

It's always a pleasure to try a new brewery and be impressed with their very first offering that you sample. Based on first impressions, I'm expecting a lot more good stuff from Midnight Sun.

Mission Brewery: IPA

Greetings. Once again, it's been far too long. It's sad to say, but I had to have the most beer infused week to get back to the blog. First, my old friend and co-brewer called me up to chat about old recipes and to fire up the pot for some mash. Then as a superbowl surprise, another friend busted out a special home brew for the big occasion. Throw in some email chains about attending some local breweries and I thought: I must get back to the blog.

Went to the store and purchased something new and fresh. This time, Mission Brewery's IPA. Out of San Diego County. From the crack of the bottle, this ipa has a strong bready and yeasty smell. The initial taste matches the smell and hits with strong thick bread flavors. The aftertaste has a touch of piney hop bitterness. Letting it sit in your mouth a bit, the brew does taste a little sour. Not as bitter as I would like and actually more tart than bitter. All in all, not my favorite ipa. I feel like IPAs are can't misses for hop heads but I just don't really taste the cascasde or centennial hop flavors as much as I would like. Strangely, all the talk about homebrew got me excited to write in the blog again and this beer has a more of a homebrew taste than a polished microbrew.

I hate to give a 'bad' review for a beer. But as I'm sure you can tell, it's not my favorite. As always, I'm not giving up on this brewery. I'm gonna try some of there other styles. And hopefully sooner rather than later. Cause I'm excited about beer and the blog again. Cheers.

Dark Horse Brewing Co.: Crooked Tree IPA

I have mentioned to a couple of my friends that, while there are certainly a handful of quality breweries out here on the East Coast, per capita, they just don't have nearly as many top-flight breweries as the west coast. I don't know why this is--whether the west coast has better ingredients, higher demand, or just more ingenuity. I also suspect that there are probably more than a few East Coasters who would quibble with my diagnosis. In any event, I had basically concluded that California and Oregon (and perhaps Washington) were a league apart from any other state in the union. Well, I may need to revise that and add Michigan.

Yes, Michigan. Don't ask me why. In addition to Bell's, whom I've blogged repeatedly before, I've discovered two more quality breweries: Dark Horse and Founders. I'm gonna try to chalk up a number of brews from these establishments in the coming few months. Let's start with Dark Horse's Crooked Tree IPA.

The IPA is generally an exercise in hop flavor cultivation. The trick is to make a brew that brings out delicious hoppiness as strongly as possible without feeling like you're sucking on loose leaf tea. But the truly great IPAs, in my opinion, figure out a way to compliment the hop assault with another flavor. And that's where Crooked Tree excels. This IPA has a delicious combination of almost fruity flavors that pops out at you: something sweetly citrus like a clementine. The sweetness is complimented by a pleasant-though-mild malt backbone. Then the hops rolls in--a combination of leafy and earthy flavors that is bold to be sure, but that doesn't entirely obliterate the other flavors. And to top it all off, the flavors are balanced quite nicely, so that despite this brew's flavor intensity, it remains refreshing throughout.

This is definitely one of the better brews I've had in the last few months. Do yourself a favor and grab one. Though I don't know if this one has made it out west yet.

Port Brewing Co: Wipe Out IPA

Ever since my friends have moved out of the Haight, I find myself going to Toronado less and less. This is a tragic development as it's one of the best beer bars in the world. One of the many great features of Toronado is the ability to order the latest offerings of many California breweries. To give substance to my claim, I can specifically recall that a number of breweries including Port Brewing Company out of San Marcos California always seem to ship up a different keg to San Francisco just for Toronado. I even remember seeing a new Port Brewing Beer called 547 Haight - created and named after Toronado's address.

Well, just because I'm not frequenting Toronado as often doesn't mean I can't find a wide variety of California offerings in select liquor stores. Recently I snagged a few beers from Port Brewing that I never found time to try at Toronado. This time around I sampled the WipeOut IPA.

WipeOut is brewed with five hop varieties and has a strong hop aroma. Despite the strong hoppy flavors this ale has a large amount of malt flavors. It's almost surprising how much the malt tastes emerge and it gives the brew a very smooth mouthfeel. The aftertaste brings back the bitter hop bite and the beer ends with a very dry finish. Despite hitting the 7.0% threshold there is no alcohol flavors furthering the smooth sensation on the tongue. While drinking Port Brew in the comforts of one home isn't the same as enjoying it the lower Haight while listening to classic rock and observing at the classic clientle at Toronado, it's still an enjoyable experience. Cheers.

Mendocino Brewing Co.: White Hawk IPA

I'm coming right out the gate with an apology. It's been far too long since my last review. Over two months actually. While I have a whole host of excuses I won't go into any. But no worries, despite my MIA status I haven't abandoned hops and barley. Even though I haven't been posting, I have been drinking beer. A lot of beer. Not only drinking but learning a thing or two as well. In fact during my absence I read Maureen Ogle's: Ambition Brew. While a little disjointed, it was a very informative read. But this isn't a book review, it's a beer review. So onto thew brew:

In tribute to my recently absorbed beer knowledge, I went with Mendocino Brewing Company's White Hawk IPA. Why Mendocino? Well I learned that Mendocino Brewing Co. opened the first brew pub in California. For all the time I've spent in alehouses I figured I can reward Mendocino Brew Co. for their brilliance by buying another sixer of their beer. It had been a while since I imbibed their IPA, so I went with the White Hawk.

This india pale ale is not my favorite in the hoppy genre. The beer does have a great aroma and a nice woody hop burst. However, the woody and soft pine flavors are overwhelmed by a boozy aftertaste. This IPA hits exactly 7.0% alcohol by volume but the aftertaste makes it seem higher. I wish Mendocino Brew Co. could somehow create another version with the smooth hop flavors without the hard alcohol punch. I actually find this brewery's imperial ipa to rest easier on the tongue than this traditional ipa. While occasionally I don't mind a strong alcohol flavor in my beer, this booze taste almost felt like an accident and made the beer feel home-brewish. But still drinkable and overall still enjoyable.

While definitely not my favorite offering from Mendocino Brewing Company I problem shouldn't criticize. I mean I haven't reviewed a beer in two months. We're not all perfect. Right? And I mean this company invited the brewpub. Ingenious! Cheers.

Stoudts Brewing Co.: Double IPA

The double IPA is a dangerous beast. IPAs are already quite bold tasting. Try to double down on anything and you risk pushing the beer over the edge. A lot of double IPAs are just unadulterated hop monsters. Stoudt's take is a little different.

This unimaginatively titled brew does not seem to have any more hops

than a "regular" IPA. Instead, presumably in an effort to increase the ABV, Stoudts has put a lot more malt into this beer. The taste has an almost honey-like sweetness to it at first, and while you'd expect the hops to come in and wipe that out, the sweetness turns out to be quite persistent. Still, the flavors are overall pretty well balanced--the sweetness, while persistent, is not overdone and there are plenty of hops to give your tastebuds something else to focus on. It's sort of like a scaled-back version of Dogfish Head's 180 minute IPA.

This beer is a little bit too sugary for my tastes. It's not a "sweet" beer by any means, but I would definitely have preferred a little bit drier flavor. Definitely an interesting take on the genre, and probably a boon for those that really dig malted-up IPAs.

Dogfish Head: Aprihop

I think Dogfish Head Craft Brewery created a new word: Aprihop. What is an aprihop? Definition: (n). A beer combining large amounts of apricots and hops.

Fruit in beers may seem strange at first glance but in reality a ton of breweries are using fruit; including real apricots, apricot juice, or apricot flavoring in a variety of beers these days. What is interesting about Dogfish Head's interpretation of the apricot brew is that they throw in pitted apricots into their IPA recipe. Yes, an India Pale Ale. Not just any india pale ale, but a 7% ipa. So while most apricot beers provide a nice fruit flavor to a wheat beer or a lighter ale, Dogfish Head adds apricots to a borderline imperial ale.

As mentioned in my surmised definition, I think an aprihop has tons of apricots. I make this educated guess because the IPA does not drown out the fruit flavors. The initial burst to the mouth is like a traditional IPA, but the back-end and after taste screams apricot flavors. As the beer warms there is really three stages to this brew. The first is a mild IPA, that is not too hoppy and surprisingly smooth. While there is obviously a lot of hops to get this beer up to the high alcohol threshold, but it is not nearly as hoppy as Dogfish Head's 60, 90 or 120 minute IPA. The second stage is a sweet alcohol burst that matches the 7% label, and the final course is a coating of apricot flavor after a every gulp. All combined on a quick slug, the three stages works together pretty nicely. While I don't add fruit to my beer and I rarely reach for a fruit flavor brew, this aprihop is quite drinkable despite the uncommon aftertaste. Maybe next time I brew I'll add some apricots and try to invent a new word of my own. Cheers.

Dogfish Head: 120 Minute IPA

Your typical run of the mill lager is 5% alcohol-by-volume. Grab yourself an ale, and 5.5-6% is the usual. Move on up the ladder to Belgian dubbels, Strong Ales (e.g. Arrogant Bastard), and malt liqour, where 7-8% is more typical. Then you get to your imperials: Double IPAs, Russian stouts, and Belgian trippels and quads, which weigh in around 10 or 11%. And that's pretty much as alcoholic as beer gets.

Which is why--despite the $12 for a 12 oz bottle--I could not possibly pass up Dogfish Head's 120 Minute IPA, weighing in at an ostentateous, unbelievable, and thoroughly unncessary 21% ABV.

How do you get so much alcohol in a beer? You develop a special strain of extra-resilient yeast and feed it generous quantities of sugar. As a result, the 120 Minute is sweet--really sweet. Despite all the hops they throw at it, this beer is not really all that bitter. It's sugary and carmelly and finishes with a little bit of orange zest of all things. All the hops really manage to do is take the edge of the sweetness, which is crucial because otherwise it would probably have a pretty gross aftertaste. It's also a little bit syrupy. You can taste the alcohol, but it's nowhere near as bad as I expected. Considering the fact that this beer has more alcohol than certain hard liquors, that's pretty remarkable.

I guess I have to give Dogfish credit for boldly going where no beer has gone before. But having been there once, I doubt I'll be back. 120 Minute is an impressive specimen of alcoholic engineering, but taste-wise it just doesn't offer much. It's kind of absurd that one of these little bottles has almost as much alcohol as a pitcher of Coors Light, but--all things considered--I'll take the pitcher.

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery: 90 Minute Imperial IPA

Following Hofer's lead, tonight I went out of my price range and outside my locality to enjoy a fine beer . Now omnipresent at liquor stores on the west coast, I could no longer resist picking up some more bottles of Dogfish Head. Hof introduced the readership to this Delaware brewery a ways back and even let the people out west know when Dogfish Head beers started popping up in select bars and stores up and down the left coast (see older posts). Recently I began seeing Dogfish Head so often in liquor stores but continued to purchase in moderation because it's a pricey brew ( a four-pack going for as much as $13). After months of enticement and continued expansion, I finally broke down and picked up a few of their beers that I had yet to try.

Reaching back into the wallet, I decided to pick up some of Dogfish Head's 90 Minute Imperial IPA. This beer is a double india pale ale with a 'single constant 90 minute hop addition'. Throw in an extra dry hopping stage and you have one hoppy beer. The hops provide an excellent lacing to the brew and a thick head. After you pull some liquid through the foam, believe it or not the taste starts out with a strong malt splash and then eventually changes into a sweet hop flavor. As the beer warms you begin to taste woody and butter hop flavors and a slight alcohol taste. It's a really tasty imperial IPA and not nearly as boozy as some other 9% offerings.

Overall this brewery makes some interesting and fun craft beer. I have been sending this article about the brewery to all my friends . Even if you're not into Dogfish Head's strange brewing tactics and unique recipes it's a great read and will add to your beer knowledge. So while, I don't often stray from my west coast brews, Dogfish Head is a welcomed change of pace. Cheers.

Speakeasy Ales & Lagers: Double Daddy Imperial IPA

It's been about six months since I've lasted lived in San Francisco, one month since I've last partied in The City, and far too long since I've had local SF brew. It was time to grab some familiar looking local craft. I decided to grab Speakeasy's Double Daddy Imperial IPA. Accustomed to most of this brewery's selection I choose to finally snag 'double daddy' because it is one of the few Speakeasy Ales & Lagers that I have yet to enjoy.

"Doubling down on malts and hops" this imperial india pale ale is not messing around. Proudly sporting a 9.5% alcohol by volume content this brew will kick your mouth off. The alcohol flavor is by far the most prominent flavor and with an abv over 9% I wouldn't expect anything different. By letting the ale rest on your tongue you can sufficiently dull most of your taste buds.

Despite a quick dulling of the face and warming of the stomach, this beer has an incredibly smooth mouthfeel. The ale is almost buttery and drinks pretty easy if you don't mind the alcohol flavors. A hop present hits on the back of the tongue slightly after a clean swig, but since the brew is so smooth it's hard to detect. Unless you're in the mood for something boozy, I wouldn't recommend this monster. But if you don't mind some alcohol in your beer it's a smooth way to get a good buzz.

This brew would be a great way to get any party going. Very strong and surprisingly easy to drink. Next time I'm in San Francisco I might 'double down' on my pre-party. Hopefully it's sooner rather than later. Cheers.

Sly Fox Brewing Co: Odyssey Imperial IPA

I made my trek to Tria, the local beer and wine bar, tonight to sample their weekly featured brew. What they had on tap was a local imperial IPA. It being a cold winter night (snow is on the ground), a strong beer was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Odyssey is one of the IPAs that feature a distinctive "piney" taste to them. This taste compliments the extreme hoppiness of an IPA quite nicely. What sets Odyssey apart is that--unlike many IPAs--it doesn't write off the malt flavors entirely. There's an almost sugary malt sweetness that comes through in this beer, and while sugar isn't generally a flavor you'd like to see in a beer, in this case it works out quite nicely. There is also a faint citrusy taste at play in here somewhere, and as you'd expect, the taste of alcohol is also present (though not too strongly).

It seems that in most cases, IPA brewers ignore the malt aspects of their beer entirely to focus on pleasing their hophead constituency. But for those of us that are not extreme hopheads, having a secondary flavor to balance out the hops works out great. But IPA devotees shouldn't worry about this--this is an Imperial IPA through and through, with plenty of hops to go around. In sum, if you are into the India Pale Ale genre, this is definitely a brew worth seeking out.

Mendocino Brewing Co: Winter Seasonal Imperial IPA

I have to say, I love the new trend of breweries making IPAs as their winter releases. While dark and malty winter warmers are a nice change of pace for the cold months, as a hop head, I always enjoy a great IPA. No matter the season.

Mendocino Brewing Company is a solid brewery that makes a great red ale. Hofer, the other main contributor to this blog, hooked me on this brewery's flagship Red Tail Ale many years ago. As a result I always give their seasonal releases a shot.

In the winter months MBC brews a strong IPA. As an imperial ale this brew tops out at 7.5% alcohol by volume. Thus this beer functions just like any other winter warmer in the fact it heats up any cold December night. As for the taste: there is a quick hop hit to the pallate with a touch of a boozy aftertaste. In addition, there is also an orange citrus flavor floating around which compliments a light sweet malt flavor to top everything off.

Overall it's not as hoppy as expected. Especially because 'Imperial IPA' is printed in ginormous letters on the front of the bottle. But a good beer and a welcomed imperial IPA to add the rotation in the winter. Cheers.

Russian River Brewing Co: Blind Pig IPA

If you are familiar with Northern California you probably know that the city of Santa Rosa is the most populated location in wine country. As a result, if you visit Santa Rosa, you'll fine a bunch of good wineries to visit and plenty of people to talk about fermented grapes. Also nestled in the city of Santa Rosa is Russian River Brewing Company. This brewery owes its heritage to the viticulture tradition in region. Korbel, the champagne producer, originally started this brewery and began implamenting some of its wine and bubbly making techniques to beer. Thus Russian River Brewing Co is one of the few breweries that ages a majority of its beers in wine barrels. The brewery tries to match the barrels with certain styles of beer to augment the flavors and enhance the taste. For example the brewery matches Chardonnay barrels with Blonde Ales and pinot noir barrels with Brown ales. While this style of brewing is different and relatively new, most of RRBC's beers are quite tasty and worth a try.

If aged beer is not your thing, Russian River Brewing Company has a couple traditional beers that are definitely worth trying. My favorite is the Blind Pig IPA. So as not to get confused with their other offerings, Russian River prints on this bottle "Keep Cold, Drink Fresh, Do Not Age!" And that's what I did. This is a hoppy IPA that has piney, citrusy, and woody flavored hops. The hops are definitely the most prominent flavors (very strong) but there is a touch of malt lingering in the background to round out the beer.

This beer is difficult to get a hold of. RRBC is a relatively small operation and it's beer can be difficult to find. If you search BevMo or other liquor stores' websites for the term 'Russian River' you'll see that the engine brings up more wine hits than beer hits. But if you are persistent you can find Blind Pig or other offerings at a variety of NorCal locations on tap or in bottles. (City Beer, Toronado, Jackson's Wine and Spirits to name a few).

If located, Russian River beers might be a great way to cross over wine drinkers to the wonderful tastes of hops and malted barley. For those that don't care how long a beer is aged, what flavors mix well, and what temperature to store beer - you'll still enjoy this beer. It tastes good. I promise. Cheers.

Stone Brewing Company: IPA

I admittedly couldn't handle Stone's Ruination IPA. (See prior post: 5/4/08) Simply too much. Even for a self proclaimed hop head like myself. But as mentioned, Stone Brewing Company makes a series of incredible brews. My favorite selection from the variety of Stone beers I've sampled is their traditional IPA.

First off, the smell is very pungent. The aroma is so powerful it reminds me of the few occasions where I have decided to sample and actually eat a small amount of the straight hops I used in my home-brews. A very raw and fresh scent. Despite this remarkably strong smell, the beer is quite smooth to drink. Don't get me wrong, this is a hoppy beer. If you let it sit on your tongue your taste buds will start to sting. But for how hoppy this brew is, it is so smooth down the gullet. Very impressible. Obviously surprisingly drinkable for an IPA.

As the beer warms up a little you definitely start to notice a malty aspect to this beer. Which is always surpising for how hoppy it smells and tastes. I think the malt presence is ultimatley what is helping with the smooth drinkability.

The aftertaste has an herbal hop feel and if you happen to belch after a few sips you'll notice how your mouth cannot escape the hop resin flavors. But that's what most people are probably looking for in an IPA anyway. Cheers.

BridgePort Brewing Co: India Pale Ale

So I finished (with the help of friends) drinking my second home-brewed batch of beer. Very soon I'm going to start up the process of making my third batch. In tribute of this fine style of beer creation, I picked up a six pack of 'authentic bottle conditioned' beer.

You can't miss BridgePort's prominent advertising of their bottle conditioning: right on the neck of each individual bottle. (Click picture to right). After a full pour into a pint glass you also can't miss the syrupy yeast mixture left behind at the bottom of the empty bottle. So BridgePort isn't kidding, this micro-brewery is carbonating their beer the same way I carbonate mine; in the bottle.

As for the taste, overall a pretty good beer. For an IPA it's not nearly as hoppy as you would expect from a West Coast India Pale Ale. Due to it's mild hoppiness other flavors have the chance to emerge. There are noticeable citrus and bread flavors that round out this ale.

While finishing, the brew leaves a thick smear of lacing all the way down the glass. It's quite beautiful. It really get me ready to start brewing again. Cheers.

21st Amendment Brewery: 21st Amendment IPA

Goodbye to San Francisco for now. On my way out I had to pick up a souvenir. So naturally I went with a local brew. I snagged a sixpack from 21st Amendment Brewery.

I've only had one of 21st Amendment's beers prior and I wasn't planning on buying any of their selection when I got to the store, but this brewery caught my attention with some clever marketing; so I couldn't resist.

Believe it or not, 21st Amendment released their IPA in a beer can. I've drank a lot of beer in my day but I rarely see anything besides an American macro lager in a can. Of course you'll find a selection of foreign brew such as Guinness, New Castle, Boddingtons, Pilsner Urquell in cans all the time; but to see an American India Pale Ale in a can was rather interesting. The packaging spiked my interest.

I basically purchased the sixpack as a taste test to see if an IPA would hold up in a can. Most beer drinkers have experienced the effect of popping open a canned beer and noticing the metal aftertaste after every sip. Surprisingly the aluminum was not present in this IPA. The hop flavors probably masks any metal flavor.

As for the specific taste, this IPA is a little weak. It's not incredibly hoppy and the strong hop flavors are only in the initial sip and the aftertaste. The mouthfeel is a touch watery but there is a nice smooth dark malt flavor as well. Not the strongest IPA, but it holds up nicely in a can. A cool novelty beer as well. Especially with big bold lettering of "Brew Free or Die" written everywhere across the can. I definitely agree. Cheers.

Harpoon Brewery: IPA

Just got back from my annual vacation out east. Of course while on holiday, I have to relax. And what great way to relax than to enjoy a few drinks.

Since I don't spend more than a week in Massachusetts every year, I always try to sample some beers I've never tried. All the way out in California it can be difficult to get your hands on and taste the selection from the other coast.

This summer I drank a bunch of Harpoon ales. Brewed in Boston, Mass Harpoon can be found in most shops and liquor stores. I found myself reaching for Harpoon's IPA. Always hot, humid, and buggy out on Cape Cod its nice to have a cold and refreshing brew.

Now normally I wouldn't call any IPA refreshing. Most are so bitter and hoppy that they are closer to a meal than a drink. But Harpoon's IPA is still satisfying on a muggy day if served cold. While it has the head and hoppy smell of most hearty India Pale Ales, the mouthfeel and taste was quite light and even a touch citrusy for an IPA.

If you want an ale that has plenty of taste and will also help you stay cool I would recommend Harpoon's IPA. If you pour it in a double lined glass to prevent sweating it can be a great summer brew. If you don't believe me, try it for yourself. Cheers.

Stone Brewing Co: Ruination IPA

Wow. Stone is not kidding around with this one. Known for their strong ales, all Stone brews pack a real punch. But I can't remember the last time I was physically shocked by an initial sip of a beer. Ruination IPA does just that.

This feeling is of course is what Stone wants to do with this imperial ale. Hitting at 7.7% alcohol and proudly declaring a mark over 100 international bitter units, this SoCal brew gives you a swift kick to the mouth. With this beer, I feel Stone is proudly staking their claim in the 'extreme beer' category.

This beer is incredibly hoppy. The hoppy flavors are more woody than floral and there is a ton of hops to go around. Bitter yes. Very bitter, leaving a strong aftertaste along with an alcohol falvor. In fact the reason Stone names this beer Ruination is because of "the immediate ruinous effect on your palate." I figured I'd put Stone's classic witty back bottle description to the test. I tried a average strength beer after consumption and boy were they right. I felt as if I was still drinking the IPA while sipping on a subsequent lager. The taste really does stick with you and 'ruins your palate' for any other beer.

I thought I was a hop head. I mean, I love Stone's Arrogant Bastard (see Hof's post), I like Stone's IPA, Pale Ale, and even their Old Guardian (which has a higher alcohol content than Ruination). But Ruination, I must say, might be too much for me. Prepare yourself if you gonna grab this beer. Consider yourself warned. Cheers.

Flying Dog: Snake Dog IPA

I wasn't going to do another Flying Dog post quite so soon, but when I got home today I was itching for a beer, and when I opened the fridge my eyes couldn't help but fix on the bright orange and strangely decorated label for Flying Dog's version of the IPA. So I grabbed it, poured it out, and dove in. Here's how it goes.

I'm not generally a huge advocate for IPAs. I like Pale Ales generally, but I find that a lot of IPAs are hoppy to the point hiding the rest of the flavor (maybe I just don't have discerning tastebuds). But for pale-o-philes like myself, Snake Dog may be the perfect sort of IPA. It's much less hoppy than a lot of other IPAs, though still noticeably hoppier than a straight up pale ale. It pours to a pleasant light-amber flavor with a thick head that dissipates quickly. The taste is a sweet-citrusy-leafy-hoppiness (if you can imagine that). It's got a subtle sweetness that slowly fades, though never quite vanishes, to the hops as the beer rolls over your tongue.

The taste is definitely more summery than most of the brews I've had recently. Now if only the weather outside would warm to match...

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.: Celebration Ale

As the holidays fade into blurry memories so do many of the season's limited beer releases. Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale, should never be forgotten.
During the holiday season, Sierra bucks the trend of most microbreweries and releases an IPA instead of a traditional winter warmer. What's lost in malts is made up for in hops. And in taste.

Nothing against winter warmers (I love to reach for a Snow Cap, Winterhook, or Chirstmas Ale on any cold night) but this beer is a wonderful and dare I say, a superior replacement.
You may think an IPA should be a second choice during the holidays, but let me convince you otherwise: As an IPA, Celebration Ale has an darker orangier color than most india pale ales, so it won't look like your sipping on a summer beer. The brew also matches the raised alcohol content of most winter releases to give you that false sense of warmth on a cold night. It's flavor is also plenty strong to match any holiday feast. Most notably there is a very floral hoppiness which is the backbone of the beer. Despite the incredible flowery hops the aftertaste is surprising sweet and leaves a wonderful lingering feeling. Overall its everything you'd want from an IPA or any other winter beverage.

By mid February most winter beers are either sold out, their production shut down, or the remaining cases are stored away. If your local market is business savvy they may throw these remaining winters at customers with a discounted price in an attempt to replace them with the early spring releases. If so, snatch up some Sierra Celebration and hope for a blizzard. Cheers