New Glarus Scream IIPA

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The story of New Glarus Brewing is very interesting. Dan, the brewmaster, attended several brewing schools and worked in several breweries. His wife, Deborah, raised all of the capital to start a brewery as a gift to him, making her the first woman to open a brewery in the US. She does everything with the brewery except brew the beer; in turn, Dan gets turned loose a couple of times a year to make a beer that he wants to make. Scream is part of that series, called the Thumbprint series. Most Thumbprint beers are only brewed once, so this is a special treat that we obtained in a trade as New Glarus does not distribute outside of Wisconsin.

Admittedly, we are trying to squeeze in a couple of beers that we know are amazing before the end of the year. It's a rainy night here, so a beer that has been sitting here for a couple of months should make everything toasty and right with the world. While most normal people are frantically getting ready for Christmas, I decided to boycott it this year. My kid did something atrocious to warrant not getting any presents, and I think it might make the first holiday season without my dad just a little easier to bear. We will be spending Thursday with Nathan's grandmother and yes, brewing. Instead of wrapping presents, baking pies and cookies and whatnot, and the last-minute scramble of shopping, I am sitting here enjoying some damn fine beer. I couldn't be more Scrooge-alicious if I were sitting on a mountaintop with the Dalai Lama after receiving a three-hour massage whilst flipping off Santa Claus. It's a pretty fucking zen state here.

So, there is beer to be had. I'm in. This is a lovely medium golden orange color that had a couple of fingers of barely odd-white head to start. Like my enthusiasm for Christmas, it's nearly nonexistent now. The aroma on this is very promising: grapefruit, passionfruit, some boozed-up lychees like a lychee martini, and a hint of pine are all noticeable, with perhaps a hint of cracker-y malt. All of the flavors in the nose are present, plus a big KAPOW of mango and pineapple. As this has sat longer than intended, I think that some of the hops are starting to die off... or did they use copious amounts of Amarillo hops in this? It's kind of like the difference between Five Finger Death Punch and, well, any other quasi-metal band: Who can tell? What I can tell is that the malts in this are barely noticeable except for in the mouthfeel. It has a light- to medium body and finishes sticky sweet yet crisp.

New Glarus is often noted for their fruit beers, which I wouldn't mind trying sometime. This is a pretty solid IIPA, even if it wasn't as fresh as I would have liked (that is fully our fault for sitting on it for two months after receiving it).

4.2/5 caps

-Jennie

I'm in a relaxed state myself now. After a short, but grueling work week (NEVER WORK IN SHIPPING AT A FACTORY!), I now get to enjoy a stint of 5 days off. With the daily duties of not setting a building on fire after locking all the doors, I get to relax. Ear buds in, rocking out, I sit back in this worn but comfortable leather chair and stare at a screen. Huh...is that relaxing? Where have we fallen as a human race that constantly being connected through electronic communications is leisure time? Oh well, as Dylan said "the times they are a-changin'."

We have obtained all kinds of beers this year that we can't purchase in-state (traveling and friends). As we wind down this painful year, we look forward to a better one next year. Year after year, we hope for the next year to be more prosperous and less shitty than the last. Human nature, I guess. Enough pondering. Beer. That is all.

This has had time to warm as Jennie took lead on this. I enjoyed a shower to help with the beginning of the relaxation that is within the near future. With this new found, clear mind- I look at this beer, which isn't quite as clear as my mind. Although a nice clear medium orange color, not see-through like American Piss Lagers. A bit of white head lingers with a bit of lacing on the side of my trusty pint glass, giving memories of Bob Ross (happy little clouds). The aroma on this is worth a swan dive from 90 feet into a vat of this. Tropical fruit, grapefruit, fainter hints of pine and even fainter notes of malt sweetness make it nearly irresistible to not have this in my mouth right now (that's what she said). A juicy hop bomb washes over the taste buds. Like a tidal wave crashing on the rocks, the flavors blast my tongue in a refreshing burst of lychee, passionfruit, mango and pineapple. As the wave breaks and rolls back, there are grapefruit and pine flavors that take hold with a slightly resiny residue with some sort of off flavor. I understand where Jennie said she wasn't sure if it was Amarillo or hops dying... Are we the only ones that have this problem? The mouthfeel is medium, and honestly not as resinous or bitter as I'd expect from an IIPA with 85 IBUs. Oh... I seemed to have finished my half of the bottle before I was finished with the review. Bollocks. At least we've shared our first tasting of New Glarus with you dedicated readers who always read to the end of the reviews.... Right?

4.3/5 caps

-Nathan-

Food pairing: Thai pepperpot soup
Cheese pairing: Stilton
Music pairing: "Found Out About You" Gin Blossoms

Destihl Hoperation Overload

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We picked this up on the way back to Ohio after The Phil's memorial service in Peoria, Illinois. It's been a rough year with deaths, for most people I know, but we have the solution, ladies and gentlemen. Craft Beer helps take away some pain.

We were mixing 6 packs and decided to get a 4 or 6 pack of an IPA to drink/later review once we completed the long 7 hour drive back to Columbus, Ohio. We stumbled upon this, a local to Illinois brew, not far from Peoria. We were intrigued by the sign at Friar Tucks saying it won bronze in the World Beer Championship. Ok, beer, Ohio bound you are.

9.6 % ABV, 85 IBUs seemed like the perfect treat around midnight after a 7 hour drive across 3 states. It's been many beers ago (and much turmoil), so let's see how it stacks up now.

This pours reddish-orange with about 2-fingers of off-white head that dissipates quickly, leaving wonderful lacing in its wake. The aroma on this has sweet, caramel, citrus and almost banana notes. The initial sip- a punch to the face of boozy notes and astringency that leaves your taste buds paralyzed momentarily. The second sip- Ah, there's flavor. Big malty (caramel mostly with some biscuit) take the forefront while the hops slowly build up. Orange, earthy, and grapefruit start and then that banana pops in. On the back end there is pine and a weird tartness until the bitterness builds to mouth puckering stickiness. Medium mouthfeel for a 9.6% brew.

3.6/5 caps

-Nathan-

I remember finding this at Friar Tucks and being excited that there was a brewery in a nearby town (Bloomington, IL) that was putting out good beer. I then remember drinking it when we got back and being a little disappointed. Then again, that entire trip was pretty much a downer, other than getting to spend time with some of my favorite people on the planet.

This poured quite foamy and as Nathan mentioned, the head dissipated quite quickly. It is a clear medium amber color. The aroma on this is caramel, mild pine and grapefruit, and on the third sniff, I finally picked up the faint banana that my beertner discovered. The flavor is... a bit odd. A rather balanced double IPA, with the requisite sweetness and not as many hops as I would like to taste. Yet it is bitter, and the banana sort of underpins the entire taste with the citrus, pine, and grapefruit kind of floating above it. It's almost like they open fermented or at least fermented it at too warm a temperature. This being a can, I'm not sure that that would ever work itself out. It's not bad, don't get me wrong. It's more balanced than I prefer for a DIPA, and I find the banana note a little off-putting. It's really sweet, yet the hops come in to attempt to balance it out, but somehow kind of miss the mark. It's sticky sweet on the tongue and medium-bodied.

All in all, a little disappointing, but from what I've read, DeStihl produces many other great brews. I look forward to trying something different when we are back in Illinois. 

3.5/5 caps

-Jennie

Food Pairing: An Italian beef with spicy giardinera
Music Pairing: "Paralysis" by Scott Weiland
Cheese Pairing: Smoked provolone

Revolution Unsessionable

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This little beauty made an appearance on the Columbus beer scene this week, and it flew off the shelves. It was originally released in September, apparently, and has been a very popular beer from Revolution Brewing, who claims it is the biggest beer they have ever brewed, and their first specialty beer to be canned. If you will recall, we love what Revolution is doing. Anti-Hero is one of our favorite go-to IPAs. We recently fell in love with the movie Drinking Buddies, which is set at Revolution Brewing. I was raised not far from Chicago, and I love the city. I am thrilled that Revolution is doing so well, although next time, would it be too much to ask for a Giordano's pizza delivered with my six-pack? Goodthanks.

This 10% ABV, 100IBU behemoth pours a medium golden color. There was a pretty good amount of white head as I poured it, but it quickly dissipated. The aroma on this just made me sigh with pleasure... notes of grapefruit, pine, lychee, passionfruit, and light crackery notes floated past my nose. Taking a sip, the taste is not quite as bold as I expected from the aroma. This beer does not punch you in the taste buds, but instead, quietly invades them. The same flavors are in the taste as the aroma, but it is really sweet, and there is also a grassy note that I am getting in the flavor that I did not notice in the aroma. Fortunately, it is not excessively cloying in sweetness; I have really come to dislike IIPA's that are too sweet and clash malts with hops. In this beer, the sweetness just underlies the beer, complementing the hop flavors and aromas so nicely instead of overpowering them. It is well-carbonated and leaves sticky hop residue in the mouth.

This is Anti-Hero's fantastic big brother. Apparently, it was only brewed once, but let's hope that vigorous sales and demand turn this into a seasonal offering from Revolution. Now, about that pizza...

4.8/5 caps

-Jennie

Blah blah blah my random banter that I'm sure no one really reads. Fuck this, let's just get straight to the beer. I needed to get this, as it's the talk of Columbus right now.

I, unlike Jennie, am enjoying mine straight from can. As soon as I crack open the can, my olfactory senses are overwhelmed with pine and grass, with initial hints of grapefruit and lychee that come out more with each sniff. The aroma is worthy of noting the old "they should make a candle that smells like this".... Now, exactly who 'they' are has never been determined, so instead of trying to figure out who 'they' are, I will let this 10%, 100 IBU behemoth slither past my lips, hoping the bliss obtained in the aroma is equally as gratifying in the taste. Well fuck... it is. Big hop flavors that onslaught the taste buds, wrecking them with grapefruit, lychee, pine and some earthy notes. Eventually, there is some light malt flavor, but it fades quickly as the hops continue marching their way across your tongue, changing the flavor profile once again to bitter with grapefruit and orange zest. Shock of shocks, it's a nice bitter finish, but this drinks smoother than any other 10% beer I've had. It's abusive on the taste buds, but has the body and carbonation of a 6% IPA. This is fantastic.

We have 4 more cans of this, one of which will be spoken for. What to do with 3 more of these? Hmmm...

4.85/5 caps

-Nathan-

Food pairing: A spinach and cheese pie from Giordano's. Seriously. Please send one.
Cheese pairing: Provel
Music pairing: Rise Against, "Savior"

Brooklyn Blast!

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How else to make a solid case of the Mondays go away than to drink from our stockpile of good beer? Actually, my Mondays aren't too bad... I get some peace while the child is at school and Nathan is at work, get stuff done around the house, and get in a good run. For the most part, I can't complain about Mondays. But they are still a great excuse to drink beer, don't you agree? Mean Girls is playing in the background while Nathan packages a metric fuckton of beer for an epic beer trade. Actually, this is a pretty great night.

I actually really enjoy Brooklyn's beers, despite us only having reviewed two of them to date. They produce consistently solid brews, right down to their lager. This is their "big" IPA offering, which is brewed with both American and English hops because New York City is halfway between the Pacific Northwest and England. Interesting concept.  Coming in at 8.4%, this recently went from being a seasonal brew to being offered year-round.

This pours a beautiful medium golden orange color with a finger or so of white head. The aroma on this is caramel and citrus with some almost grassy notes to round it out. There is also a bang of pineapple in the nose. Taking a sip, it's almost all caramel and it's very malt-forward. The grassy and pineapple notes really come through in the taste, as well as some vague lemon and orange. It is a very well-balanced "big" IPA without a ton of hop bitterness, yet it's not overly sweet. The mouthfeel is well-carbonated and not too sticky.

Overall, I can't decide whether I like this a lot or not. It has been well-documented that I adore hops. But I can also applaud the use of milder English hops to balance out the palate-killers that are most of those from the Pacific Northwest. It's good, but of course, I would prefer it to be a showcase of the hops.

4/5 caps

-Jennie

While Jennie had a mellow day, my day was chaotic and another example of why I need to get out of shipping. For 7 years, I've wasted my life in this position, only to be bombarded at home with packaging 15 twelve-ounce bottles, a sixteen-ounce can, a twelve-ounce can, and 5 twenty-two- ounce bottles thoroughly to survive the long journey of private courier from Columbus, Ohio to Iowa. 39 pounds of beer and packaging, the packaging that represents pain and agony of work. Sigh. At least there's one reward, good beer.

As this has had time to warm up some, there's still a little bit of white head lingering on this golden orange nectar. This has an aroma, at this point, of fresh cut grass, slight caramel with faint hints of citrus and tropical fruits. As I swirl it (FUCK! I'm officially a beer snob!), the caramel comes out more and the other aromas dissipate. The first sip is caramel heavy with some malty stickiness up front, the hops come in about 2-3 seconds later, lending pineapple and citrus flavors. The stickiness fades after the hops come in, and this finishes slightly juicy.

As I listen to the happy bubbling of the fermenting bucket (a soon to be 11%+ ABV Count Chocula Stout), I reflect on the flavor profile of the Blast! It's not the hop bomb I typically adore, but it's not bad. I would happily turn non-IPA drinkers onto this to get them turn to the Hop Side. By the way, do you have a moment to talk about our lord and savior, Hopsus? The 8.4% ABV on this isn't noticed initially, but with each sip, a nice warming sensation comes over you as the constant 'blub blub blub' of the airlock is pounding in your ear, much like the Tell-Tale Heart. Blub blub, blub blub.... I seem to be rambling and apparently as this warms ups, it still has the same flavor profiles that Jennie noticed when this was cold.

4.1/5 caps

-Nathan-

Cheese pairing: Double Gloucester
Food pairing: Chicken vindaloo
Music pairing: Beastie Boys, "No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn"

Southern Tier Gemini

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We delve back into our reviews after a lot on our plates. We'd rather have a lot on our palates. So to kick off our hitting hard and heavy, we crack open a 9% ABV brew; made with 6 different hops and 4 different malts. I love how Southern Tier puts that one their labels (helps out decode it for homebrewers trying to build a clone). I have no idea on the IBUs, I cannot find anything definitive on it.

This pours a a nice copper color with small amount of white head. Decent carbonation, especially for us sitting on it for about 3 or so months. Yeah, I know, we shouldn't have sat on it for long, but with the amount of shit that we had going on, beer reviews weren't a priority. The aroma on this is pine, grapefruit, caramel, toffee, and a faint boozy note.

The flavor is interesting. There's a nice smooth wave of sweetness up front. There's a biscuit note that leads into the caramel and toffee that was picked up in the nose. There's a blast of bitterness toward the backend with some of the hop flavors previously mentioned in the nose. For being 'super hopped', according to the label, I expected more hops. The faint boozy note that you read in the aroma portion is faint after the hop blast (please tell me you're actually reading these reviews and not just clicking the link to make it appear on a second window so you can try and hide from your wife that you're secretly looking at underage Asian goat porn). This drinks smooth with a light sticky, yet dry finish. 

Overall, good beer, wish there was more hop characteristics to it.

4/5 caps

-Nathan-

I think we actually have been sitting on this for longer than three months, probably closer to six. I think it was springtime when we picked this up, and it was definitely before my father got sick. Therefore, there is a really good chance that this was way hoppier when we procured it, and the hops have since died out. I feel terrible reviewing something that should have been drank fresh, but this year has been a juggernaut unto itself and not in a good way.

I would consider the color to be more of a medium-golden, and even after Nathan wrote his portion, there is still some white head sitting on top of the brew. The aroma on this is pine, grapefruit, toffee, caramel, and there's a very boozy note that comes out toward the end. Oh man, I wish we would have drank this fresh; the hops have definitely faded. Nathan described the taste profile on this quite accurately. I pick up grapefruit, orange, toffee, caramel, biscuit, and on the back side, there is a definite, noticeable blast of booze. You can definitely tell that this was once a very well-balanced hop bomb.

Oh shit, there's Nathan right behind me, time to ditch the underage Asian goat porn.

My inner hophead is crying right now. I can only imagine how amazing this was fresh. Eh, I'm already emotional today (just reflecting on my dad and life since, and having just learned of a friend passing the day after he did, and of another partner of a friend passing away this evening. 2014, I'm really over your shit). Shedding a couple of tears over hops lost or fading from their former glory seems perfectly acceptable and even appropriate. Diane and Philip, I raise this glass to you tonight in Wendy's and Dan's memories. And Gemini, I look forward to our next meeting.

4/5 caps

-Jennie

Music Pairing: Elton John, "Candle in the Wind"
Food Pairing: General Tso's Chicken
Cheese Pairing: Blue Stilton

Three Floyds Apocalypse Cow

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With just less than an hour before "Drunk History" starts, we figured we might try to match the storytellers on this fabulous show. I so want to pressure Derek Waters into drinking our way through as many 12% beers as it takes for me to fall onto the floor and sing the opening of the Lion King. Not too long ago on a venture to our favorite local craft beer store, we picked up a bomber of this Three Floyds seasonal brew. It's a double IPA with lactose milk sugars added. It sounds just weird enough to try, gonzo enough to love, and, oh yeah, I've heard really good things about this. This weighs in at 11% ABV and 100 IBUS, so it should do the trick. And can we discuss how much I love the artwork on the label???

It slides into my glass, showing a medium amber color and with a moderate off-white head. The aroma is fantastic: pine, grapefruit, pineapple, orange, and just a hint of freshly-cut grass. Taking a sip, all of those flavors are unsurprisingly forward, but the lactose adds such an interesting note to this. It doesn't affect the flavor at all, it just smooths out the mouthfeel, so that it's soft, lush, and rich, kind of like drinking velvet. It's a sweeter hop bomb, but not offensively cloying, such as I find Ballast Point Sculpin and many lesser IPAs to be. There's a boozy note that comes through midway through the sip, and almost a burnt sugar note at the very back end, like the topping on a creme brulee. It's one of the most unique beers I've ever had, and I drink a lot of weird beers!

I've yet to have a bad beer from Three Floyds, and I love what they did with this. The label describes this beer as "not normal", and I'd definitely have to agree with them, yet they knocked this odd notion out of the ballpark.

4.7/5 caps

 -Jennie

This has had time to warm up.... a lot of time. Roughly 2 hours.... oops. Well, to be fair, we took an hour and a half break to hang out without neighbor, drink a Yuengling in memory of her uncle, and watch Drunk History. Which linking that reminds me how much I don't like our earlier reviews of beers. We've become more thorough, more expanded, more experienced, more drunk.

That being said, it shocks me that this still has a small amount of head lingering around, much like a small portion of a song that's stuck in your head for days, you know the tune and a couple words, but you're stubborn, so you're not going to look it up. But, damn, what is that!? Is it some 80's New Wave or something they played on the modern alt rock station last week? I seem to be getting sidetracked. So, the color on this was nailed by Jennie.  The aroma on this is.... hang on let's twist an Apocalypse Now reference " * Long Sniff* I love the smell of hops in the morning!" Pineapple, orange, grapefruit, and some hints grass (dig deep, it's faded at this point, same as the pine notes Jennie picked up earlier). Mind you, 2 hours into being poured, I still want to have a room in a house that smells like this, year round.

Time for another Apocalypse Now quote: "You'll never find out about yourself working in some fucking factory in Ohio." This beer makes me realize that in the first sip. My factory job (actually, yes, in Ohio) will never bring me to inner peace, finding my inner light. This beer, on the other hand, is closer than factory work. It's fantastic. There's a blast of grapefruit zest, pine and orange upfront, your mind expects this to intensify and linger, like most DIPAs, but instead, the malts come in and the lactose sugars pop in and mellow everything out, giving balance to something that otherwise would be overpowering. The hops do linger, but instead of intensifying, they dissipate as the smooth liquid slides from the lips and down the esophagus. There's some almost lemon like flavors from the hops at this point that blends perfectly with the caramel notes from the malt. The lactose sugars gives it a smooth mouthfeel, like laying naked on a comfy bed with velvet sheets on it. Moving your arms and legs, rejoicing in the sheer joy you get from it touching your skin. Picture that, but on your tongue. The finish is slightly sticky, but with this being 11% and 100 IBUs, I can't tell clearly which it is, as there is both hop and sweetness stickiness. 

If you're able to, pick this up, it's an experience. Who would have thought of adding lactose sugars to a DIPA? I never would have thought it would work with something so hoppy (I'm used to lactose sugars being in stouts). Well, shit, Three Floyds, you nailed it. I tip my hat to you, fine sirs (and possibly madames - Jennie).

4.8/5 caps

-Nathan-

Music pairings: "Ride of the Valkyries", Wagner, not only for the movie reference, but also for the way this beer blasts across the tongue
Cheese pairings: a good, local Farmer's cheese. Something nice and creamy.
Food pairings: Peach Crisp

Flying Dog Single Hop Amarillo (2014)

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Ah, no long ass work week would be manageable without a damn good, heavy IPA, or in this case, an Imperial IPA that clocks in at 10%. This to celebrate that Ralph Steadman's documentary, For No Good Reason, is finally coming to Columbus on July 4th. I've been waiting for this documentary for over a year now.

So with that said, please join me in the adventure of the mind and taste buds as I guide you through this limited release selection from the most Gonzo brewing company, Flying Dog.

"I ain't got a dime,
but what I got is mine.
I ain't rich, but Lord
I'm free." Whether
it's morning, noon,
or night, you're damn
straight that Amarillo
is where I'll be.

The flavor text on the side of the bottle. A reference to George Straight's song, "Amarillo." Eh, typically the flavor texts on Flying Dog bottles are better than this. I've give them a pass as it's being playful with song lyrics.

This pours a clear, golden amber color with a nice finger head on it that's slightly off-white. The aroma on this is a nice piney, citrus concoction with some herbal notes lending a hand to dunk your nose into the foamy head. Damn... this head is thick. When you start scraping head off your nose and suck on your finger, does that make you a connoisseur or a lush? I mean, after all, it is only Thursday night, one more long day of unbridled torture at the concrete prison that provides the money for drinking this. The same concrete walls that give me a listless outlook on life, the same metal dock doors that make me feel empty each and every day. The same cement floor that mocks my very will to live.  I seem to be straying, typical, huh.

The flavor on this makes me feel like calling off tomorrow and having a 3-day-weekend long affair in a hot tub with different hop varieties. It's that pungent blast of hoppiness on the front that I need to get through the day. Citrus heavy toward the front, bleeding into a piney burst that starts to build along with the bitterness. Smooth toward the front with growing bitterness to where this leaves your mouth slightly puckered, with resiny goodness lingering as you try to catch your breath from the sucker punch of boozy that just hit you. The malt notes aren't really noticeable to me on this, some brown sugar flavors, but not the typical caramel/biscuit/toffee that I'm used to as a backbone for IPAs.

This finishes sticky, making your freshly lashed tongue long for more, much like some sort of kinky BDSM fetish. There's something of a fresh blast of the Amarillo hop as you breathe, all the while the stickiness keeps building until you satisfy the thirst.

Although not one of my favorite hop varieties, it's a great showcasing of a single hop. Not quite as good as their Single Hop Simcoe or Single Hop Citra, but this is my own personal preference. Get out there and get your tongue lashed.

4.75/5 caps

-Nathan-

Even at home, it's been a long week. So long that I thought tonight was Friday for about an hour. Meh. I'm ready for a beer that packs a bit heavier punch.

Perfectly clear, this golden amber brew still has some head lingering after it has had some time to warm from fridge temp. Dense lacing remains at the top of my glass. For me, the jury is still out on Amarillo hop strain. I like to use them for bittering, but I'm not that familiar with using them for aroma and flavor. I find the aroma to be earthy with almost a hint of fresh sage and mint atop the citrus and pine notes. The aroma on this is pure hops; I'm not finding much malt backbone here in the nose. Taking a sip as mine has warmed significantly, there is a really noticeable earthy tone in here that I don't prefer. Candidly, it tastes like there should be some dirt grit in here, as the earthy tone lingers throughout the taste. I find it kind of off-putting, but that may just be me. There are the citrus -- specifically lemon -- and pine notes that he-with-boy-parts mentioned, but I find them to be much too subtle for my liking. This beer is overly sticky and cloyingly sweet. I kind of want to go brush my teeth after each sip because it's so sticky on my tongue and lips. Yes, indeed, that is what she said.

Honestly, this is my least favorite brew from this series. It's too sweet, even for an IIPA. The hop characteristics are overpowered by the sweetness of this. It's a dessert brew, and I'm not loving this. It is my opinion that this is sweeter than Southern Tier's Creme Brulee Stout. I do enjoy so many of their other offerings, though, this won't turn me off. I'd love to get my hands on some of Flying Dog's El Dorado single-hop series, for certain, and usually I like their IPAs. This one, I feel, misses the mark and isn't up to their usual standard.

3.7/5 caps

Music Pairing: "Next Round" Frank Turner (yes, I've been listening a lot to him. It's great drinking music with deep lyrics set to punk/folk music)
Cheese Pairing: Habanero (or hotter) Pepper Jack
Food Pairing: Chile Rellenos

Stone Brewing Company Stochasticity Grapefruit Slam IPA

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Clearly, I'm still in search of a great grapefruit IPA. I'm under the delusion that a) I'll be able to taste the grapefruit and the beer in general, and b) the vitamin C in the citrus plus the alcohol will be able to kill this ickiness that has taken over my body for nearly two weeks. This one is brought to us from Stone, and seems to be the first in a series of brews from them. This is a double IPA brewed with grapefruit peel. I'm definitely intrigued.

Aside from the wonderful bottle, which evokes Cold War-era high technology, this pours a medium amber with a fluffy eggshell-colored head that doesn't stick around too long. The aroma on this is interesting. It's not overly strong, yet there's a faint tinge of noticeable grapefruit, along with some freshly mowed grass and hay. I am not noticing any malt presence in the aroma, other than it smells slightly sweet. Taking a sip, it starts out with caramel and brown sugar from the malts, which then quickly fades into the bitterness of grapefruit peels. The finish on this is a bitter, dry bite. I wish they had used more zest than pith, which is where I think the bitterness is coming from, but it's also nicely cutting through the glue that is my throat right now. It's not overly grapefruit, but the grapefruit is definitely noticed, especially toward the back side. I'm not sure if there are more subtle notes that I'm missing; I'll let Nathan fill in any blanks.

Candidly, I kind of want to use this in a Netti pot. This is a good example of a grapefruit IPA. Stone, as usual, has yet to disappoint.

4.3/5 caps -- only because I wish I could get a full feel for this.

-Jennie

After letting this warm up, while she-with-lady-parts took lead on this review, the color remains the same (as it should) and there is still a bit of eggshell head struggling to hold on for dear life.  The aroma at this point is earthy, piney and grapefruit, as I'd expect from Stone. The flavor is interesting. It's a long interesting journey from start to finish. Biscuit malt at first, leading almost instantly into a brown sugar flavor while the hop flavors start making their presence known. There is some piney that leads into some grapefruit almost instantaneously. The grapefruit builds and builds to a nice bitterness while the oils start overtaking and giving a pleasant puckering to the mouth. At times there are hints of floral notes that pop in, but don't stick around long. The finish on this is nice and dry with a strong bitter bite (like Jennie said). There's a nice puckering oily finish that washes over everything on the backend.

Not my favorite beer by Stone (read: Dayman or Enjoy By), but damn good. A bitch to spell, a pleasure to drink. When your pint glass is done, your mouth will feel like you just ate a grapefruit (or drank a pint of grapefruit juice). Fantastic for those who love grapefruit.

And for those who are wondering, Webster's dictionary defines Stochastic as:

1

:  random; specifically :  involving a random variable <a stochastic process>

2

:  involving chance or probability :  probabilistic <a stochastic model of radiation-induced mutation>

So, randomly, this beer works. Thanks again to our friends at Wine and Brew for carrying this and for being stellar people in general.

4.5/5 caps

-Nathan- 

Music Pairing: Bullets and Octane "Pirates"

Cheese Pairing: Kerry Gold Irish Cheddar

Food Pairing: Reuben Poutine (yeah, that happened)