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Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/61309
CHEERS BEER TASTING By Lucy Saunders IPA/DIPAS—Hops Ahead IPA blends toasted biscuit malt flavors with quenching hops bitterness and weighs in at about 5.5 to 7.5 percent ABV. Double IPAs emphasize hops over malt, with peppery finish from higher alcohol. Thanks to the citrus flavors of hops, IPAs and DIPAs pair well with grilled foods, such as burgers and barbecue, as well as aged hard cheeses such as Cheddar and Asiago. S Outlaw IPA, Two Brothers Brewing Co. With the addition of a new canning line, Two Brothers Brewing Company is bringing Outlaw™ IPA in 12-ounce cans. Outlaw IPA is boldly hopped with Chinook, Palisades and other citrus-y hops, balanced with biscuit malt flavor. The beer pours with a rich collar of snowy foam and bright orange hues from the malts. (Two Brothers Brewing Co., Warrenville, IL) Resin Double IPA, Sixpoint Brewery This Double IPA comes in slim 12-ounce cans that are the height of a tallboy. More amber in hue, the lemon zesty hops taste resinous and fresh against the backbone of malt. Pine aromatics are strong, but balanced by malt caramel notes and crisp carbonation. The Double IPA weighs in at 9.1 percent ABV. (Sixpoint Brewery, Brooklyn, NY) Deviant Dale's Double IPA, Oskar Blues Brewery It's as if Rocky Mountain pine cones pop from the tallboy 16-ounce cans of Deviant Dale's Double IPA. With immense piney Columbus hops at the forefront, this beer has a double dose of hops bitterness makes the corners of your mouth tingle with astringency, toned down only a tad by toasted pring brings a batch of refreshingly hoppy India Pale Ales (IPA) and Double IPAs to market. A traditional malt. The beer pours with an amber toffee color, but expect bitterness to rule the palate, followed by warmth from eight percent ABV. (Oskar Blues Brewery, Lyons, CO) Hop Stoopid, Lagunitas Brewing Co. A stupefying range of bittering hops packs a wallop into Hop Stoopid, a double IPA from Lagunitas Brewing. The beer is a coppery deep gold, with white foam and medium carbonation, which balances the big aromas of grapefruit, tangerine zest and verdant grassy hops. The beer finishes dry, with a slight tangy aftertaste from both the bittering hops and 8 percent ABV. (Lagunitas Brewing Co., Petaluma, CA) All Day IPA, Founders Brewing Co. A session ale wrapped in bright hops, Founders' All Day IPA is a drinkable IPA, at 4.5 percent ABV, balanced for optimal aromatics and clean finish. All Day IPA pours golden copper, with a bright white collar of foam. The IPA is fragrant with hops, more like a stroll by a sunny hop field instead of getting lost in a pine forest. It's a subtle blend of fruity hops, orange and pineapple, with a slight caramel and toasty malt background. Lighter in body thanks to the moderate ABV, the All Day IPA is a wonderful beer to pair with spicy foods such as pepper-rubbed ribs or sticky Korean barbecue. (Founders Brewing Co., Grand Rapids, MI) Hopslam Ale, Bell's Brewery, Inc. A rambunctious rendition of the Double IPA style, Hopslam blends six hop varietals added to the brew kettle, culminating with a massive dry-hop addition of Simcoe hops. The profile of Pacific Northwest hops creates an assertive array of grapefruit pith, pineapple, apricot and herbaceous aromatics. Brewed with a mix of malted barley and honey to provide just enough body to keep the bitterness in check, resulting in a robust 10 percent ABV IPA. (Bell's Brewery, Inc., Kalamazoo, MI) Hoptimum, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. One of the new beers produced at the brewery's Beer Camp for home brewers and industry insiders, Sierra Nevada's Hoptimum offers the "whole leaf experience" of double- dry hopped double IPA, with a sunset orange color, juicy grapefruit and tropical fruit aromas, and slight peppery punch of 10.4 percent ABV. The hops aromatics emerge full force upon opening the bottle, with a tangy astringency to the taste from German Magnum hops, followed by the citrus aromatics from dry hopping with Simcoe hops. (Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, CA) and Food. 42 | APRIL 2012 Lucy Saunders is the author of The Best of American Beer www.cheersonline.com