I feel slightly like a pioneer here, with so few reviews online. 61 reviews on BA (75/100 rating) and 51 reviews on RateBeer (35/100 rating). Why such differing scores? Anyway, Argus is a brewery out of Chicago, which I've never heard of before our trip to Peoria/Pekin Illinois. I like Argus's idea about using solar and wind power to heat kettles and reusing their grain as feed to farm animals. Other than that, I can't find much out about the brewery other than they formed in 2009 (rather young) and make a beer with the son of late Walter Payton (yes, Da Bears).
So, the only info I can find on this beer, really, is 6.5% abv, no idea on IBUs. Based on a recipe from Smugglers Brew Pub in Telluride, CO, this uses Cascade, Magnum and a special breed of hops grown just for Argus Brewery. Sounds interesting, right?
This pours a hazy copper color with a decent amount of white head that fades faster than Walter Payton broke rushing records (AH! See what I did there?!). The aroma on this is a nice combination of bready and caramel from the malts with earthy tones and some slight perfume from the hops, and there's something I can't place, almost like apple? The flavor is not bad. It's a very balanced IPA. Everything you catch in the nose is in the taste with that unplaced aroma manifesting itself as like a apple and mint combo that plays nicely in with the malts and earthiness but comes out more toward the backend. Almost tea like flavors at times. And then BAM. You're left with an awesome bitterness that lingers for over a minute. Not a mouth puckering bitterness like I'm used to, just a decent bitterness that makes its presence known. This has a medium body with a slightly sticky mouthfeel.
I hop(e) Argus expands and we can eventually get them in Ohio, as this is slightly frustrating that it's gone now... Sad panda face. Still no idea why the conflicting ratings from BA and Ratebeer (and why Ratebeer has it as a 6 for the style). Only thing I would change about this is slightly hoppier, but this is damn good the way it is.
4.7/5 caps
-Nathan
Mmmm. Da Bears. Football. Football season is less than two months away. Can a beer-loving girl get a "woot woot" for that? Football plus beer. Possibly better than any pairing with food (only joking, of course... food and beer are fantastic together). Yep, I get it. I'm a catch. Pssst. I also love hockey. And soccer. And that was prior to becoming a soccer mom.
I suppose I'll try to actually put a full, coherent sentence together and start reviewing this beer. Nathan's description is quite accurate, and yes, that's apple in the nose. It's a little more earthy than I expected him to like, but it does play well on the palate. The earthiness works well with this beer, however. My only issue is I would probably classify it as a pale ale instead of an IPA. Maybe it's more a Midwestern IPA instead of the usual East coast-West coast palate battles we so enjoy.
Speaking of food and beer pairings, I'd suggest eating a lychee flavored gummy candy just before drinking this. The bitterness of the beer and the sweetness of the candy play well together, and lychee is always a welcome flavor addition to any IPA, in my opinion. It's mild enough to not detract, but to enhance the flavor of an IPA. Oh damn, there's a can of lychees in the cupboard. I feel a beer-and-food pairing of epic proportions oncoming.
4.3/5 caps
-Jennie
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