Victory Dirt Wolf

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After a frustrating day at work, I feel like some self punishment is in order. That's right, I'm punishing my taste buds with copious amounts of hops. Upon first look of this, I was turned off. I figured the name indicated it would have a lot of earthy characteristics about it. But, as the old saying goes, you can never judge a book by its cover. Speaking of cover, let's delve into this, nose first and cover this beer (like I want my tongue constantly covered in hops).

This pours a slightly hazy golden orange color with about a finger worth of white head. The aroma on this is slightly caramel with growing notes of citrus, tropical fruits, and straw. Nothing 'dirty' smelling about this. Huh. Ok, let's now hunt down the flavor profile of this 8.7% ABV animal. This enters the lips with a light straw and caramel malt background that lends itself perfectly to the aggressive hop flavors that kick through your teeth, ripping and shredding your mouth with powerful grapefruit, citrus, pine and tropical fruit flavors. After the initial attack, your mouth is reeling in shock with a slight stickiness from the hops. The hop flavor doesn't stick around long, but enough to make its presence known. The alcohol really isn't noticed while drinking, but it does start to sneak up on you, typical wolf, always hunting, always on the prowl for an unsuspecting victim. Tonight, I am the victim of the wolf, and I'm proud to be one.

4.75/5 caps

-Nathan-

Confession: we purchased this awhile ago, and drank the other two beers of the four-pack. I thoroughly enjoyed it then, and am looking forward to assaulting my taste buds once again, in a really good way. I also poured my portion into a tulip glass, respecting the proper glassware movement.

My bottle poured without a trace of haze. Nathan nailed the appearance, other than that. (My bottle also sat in the refrigerator a little longer, while he typed his portion. Reverse chill haze?) He perfectly described the aroma and flavors, so I'll just add that I love the grapefruit-forward nature of this beer; it almost tastes like there is grapefruit zest in this. There is a lovely blast of it toward the back end, and it's oh-so-welcome.

[I've now let this warm a bit to take a long break to visit with neighbors and friends and to watch Franklin and Bash, my favorite legal-beagle show of all time... so let's just get back into this and see how it's warmed.]

After warming for over an hour, it's a little sweeter up front, but again, not offensively sweet. It's just letting you know it's an 8.7% beer. The grapefruit-zest sensation still packs a punch at the back end, just as Stanton Infeld was sucker punched in F&B tonight. There's also a boozy warmth that comes through at the end of this that just warms the soul. Hands down, this is my favorite beer from Victory. It has also rapidly ascended my list of favorite DIPAs and I have repeatedly found myself craving it since those early beers.

4.75/5 caps

-Jennie

Music Pairing: "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran
Cheese Pairing: A naturally smoked provolone
Food Pairing: A Philly cheesesteak, and not only because this is made near Philadelphia

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

Founders Dissenter IPL

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Like your worst nightmare from a bad 1980's movie, we're baaaaaaaaack. We sure have missed you, and we promise to start working our way through our stash of yummy craft beers. Not that we haven't been drinking good craft beers while we've been on hiatus... I could only let the session IPAs sit for so long before they started to stale! And that, my friends, should be a capital crime. And speaking of 1980's movies, I'm totally loving Throwback Thursday on AMC tonight: Breakfast Club followed by Sixteen Candles? Yes, please (although it would probably be better to watch both on Netflix, so as to avoid commercial interruption)!

Tonight we bring you Founders Dissenter, an Imperial Pale Lager. This is a relatively new style to the craft beer scene, taking a lager and hopping it to IPA proportions. Last Winter, Sam Adams did an IPL, and I believe we picked up one in Illinois that was unavailable here in Ohio. Both were tasty. I love that Founders opted for this style in their Backstage series. I have high expectations from Founders, after all; they are a solid brewery who ranks highly in my top 5. This is especially remarkable considering they haven't made a lager in several years (15, I want to say?). And at 8.7% ABV, this should do the trick... impressive for a lager, even with the Imperial label. Shall we?

This came in a 750 mL bottle, AKA a wine bottle. I like those for sharing, which I sometimes struggle with, as an only child. It pours a beautiful, crystal clear golden color, just a tinge darker than most American fizzy yellow piss lagers. It had about two fingers of bright white foam when I initially poured it and that dissipated very quickly, as you can see from the photo (taken at pouring). Let's get into this aroma, because I'm pretty blown away by the couple of sniffs that I've taken. My olfactory nerves are assaulted with pine, grapefruit (zest especially), a little apricot, a lot of floral and grassy notes. What is really impressing me with this is how bright and fresh the aroma is. There is just a hint of cracker and bread in there, but ever so faint; this is (hopefully) going to be a hop showcase. It reminds me a lot of their All Day IPA, but the cracker/bread notes associated with the malt characteristics are even fainter. As I take my first sip, I'm tantalized by a fantastic lager that has been very well made and thoughtful hop additions that lend so much character to this beer. Now that it has warmed quite a bit, the maltiness of the brew really comes through at first. Initially, I taste a German-style lager, and then the hops start to shine. The same notes attributed to the aroma come through loud and clear on the back end of this. I'm tasting Centennial and Amarillo hops primarily, and I'm certain there are plenty of other hop strains in here. At the very end, there is a little warming, boozy kick to this. It's not remotely off-putting, but rather a welcome addition to my palate. It is  perfectly carbonated, and the maltiness leaves a pleasant stickiness on my lips.

Overall, Founders, as usual, knocked this out of the park. Well done, gents, well done.

4.7/5 caps

-Jennie


This has had time to warm up while Jennie took lead on this (and I enjoyed Sixteen Candles). The color is deeper, as Jennie mentioned. At this point, there is just a small ring of white foam, struggling to make its presence known after 'breathing' for a while. The aroma on this beckons Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing while "Cheek to Cheek" plays in the background (opening lyrics of "Heaven, I'm in heaven, and my heart beats so that I can hardly speak"). It's a refreshing blast of hops (see above for Jennie's description, because just like a picture on the wall, she nailed it). The aroma makes me drift off into a fantasy world where I'm riding a giant hop that's leaping over fields of grapefruit zest, pine trees, peach/apricot orchards, and the occasional grassy meadow.
But then this flows into the mouth with the greatest pleasure. Oh, Hopsus, thank you for blessing me on this day with this elixir you've graced your presence upon! There's a nice lighter Grape Nuts and biscuit combo for the malt backbone, but it doesn't distract from the glory of the hops. There is so much going on from start to finish, it leaves the mouth longing for more. A blast of apricot initially greets the taste buds, opening the door to the quick rush of friends it has brought along. The pine, grass and lemon flavors rush in, livening up the party. As the party starts to fade, good old grapefruit is there, lingering around until long after the party's over. Much like a good friend, he's there to help you clean up and plan the next one. There is a slight boozy note toward that back end that makes you aware this isn't your typical American piss lager.
This drinks smooth with a bitter, stickiness on the back end, letting you know there are copious amounts of hops used in the brew.  With each and every sip, I don't want to put down the glass, in fact, I wish this was a year round brew, as I could see this being a go-to beer.
As I haven't had too many IPLs, this beer saddens me, only because, from here on out, every IPL will be judged against this.

 4.85/5 caps

-Nathan-


Food pairing: Burgers, salmon, and corn on the cob on the grill
Cheese pairing: A grassy local farmer's cheese
Music pairing: Bob Marley, "Three Little Birds" -- because every little thing will, indeed, be all right after drinking this.

Best Fourth of July Beers

Before we begin our salute to America, remember to follow us on twitter, facebook, youtube, instagram  and on Untappd as jenniek and guitaristshad.

Nice warm weather, sunshine, fireworks and grilled food. Must be the Fourth of July, the day we celebrate our independence from the torturous monarchy. The burgers, brats and hot dogs are on the grill, potato salad and apple pie are on the table. The sun is shining as we do a count down for the local fireworks display. Wait, something's wrong. Something's missing. Beer. Oh, yes, beer. Carrying on a 238 year old tradition of freedom, we raise our pint glasses to our founding fathers who were half crocked when they sat down and hashed out the details that would become our Declaration of Independence.

Here are some brews that we think pair perfectly well for a day of celebrating the Red, White, and Blue.

Burger Classic

This is a regional beer out of Cincinnati. It's a smooth drinking American Adjunct Lager that has a nice malt and hop combo that most Adjunct Lagers lack. It's refreshing on a hot summer day and the lower ABV will help insure that you won't get too blitzed before fireworks. This is out inexpensive beer of choice.


Bell's Oberon

 Ah, Oberon. Dear Oberon. My gateway to craft beer. It's smoother than a baby's backside, this lusty pale wheat offering from Bell's. Weighing in at 6% ABV, it's completely refreshing on one of those sweltering 95-degree-with-98%-humidity summer days that plague this side of the country.


Boulevard's Unfiltered Wheat

You know it's a good beer if you're wanting it for a nice, Summer day; but you can't have it because they don't distribute to your state. A couple quotes from our previous review:
"Perfect lighter summer beer with hints of wheat and citrus, dry finish, nice smooth mouthfeel that's as refreshing as it is smooth."
"The nose is mostly wheat, with just a hint of lemony citrus."

Founder's All Day IPA

Another great choice for summer, especially for hop heads. It's a light, sessionable IPA that's hopped to beat the heat. Founders doesn't make a brew I don't like, but this is the best session IPA on the market, in my humble opinion.


3 Floyd's Jinx-Proof 

Hopsus gazed upon the beer world and noticed that there were not enough hoppy lagers. This saddened Him. He laid out the plans to the brew gurus at Three Floyds for what became this. Hopsus be praised for this 5.1% ABV with 35 IBUs (tastes hoppier than 35 IBUs)

Founder's Rubaeus

 Instead of eating fruit or one of those vodka-filled watermelons, drink a Rubaeus. Another wonderful offering from Founders, this raspberry ale is a fantastic brew. This is also a great beer for craft beer newbies, because it doesn't taste like beer, per se. It tastes like you ate a handful of raspberries. Or drank some yummy raspberry juice. Or rolled in a bed of raspberries. If you like raspberry beers (and I most definitely do), it's hard to beat this.

Flying Dog's Doggie Style

The wonderful wizards at Flying Dog have improved on this recipe since we reviewed it. They added Simcoe and Citra hop varieties, which adds more awesomeness. This is still smooth drinking, and for those who love hops on a hot summer day (or year round like I do), do yourself a favor and get a 6-pack.

Bell's Two Hearted

This is one of our go-to IPAs, and seeing as how it has recently been ranked one of the top beers in the USA in numerous polls, it deserves a spot on our list. I, like many beer geeks, like a nice hoppy beer in the warmer months. There's something innately refreshing about drinking a well-crafted IPA on a hot summer day, and this one fits the bill perfectly.

Other brews (not fully in depth as we haven't reviewed them)
Left Hand's Good Juju
Shocked we haven't reviewed this. It's a great beer with a nice refreshing blast of ginger that's crisp, clean and thirst quenching. Perfect for cornhole with friends, pool side drinking, cookouts, pretty much any Summertime activity.

Fat Heads' Sunshine Daydream
A great session IPA that we've longed for since hearing about it. Go to your friend's house, wrangle them out of their air conditioning and do some porch drinking with this. *Review Coming Soon*

Uinta's Sum'r
We enjoyed this at a friend's house last summer. A light golden ale, it's perfect on a warm summer evening. If I recall, it's moderately hoppy and greatly refreshing. It makes me miss Tire Bite from Flying Dog, but if you can find Sum'r, do yourself a favor and pick some up.

Homestead Beer Co's Station Master Session IPA
We had this on draft at Barley's Homebrew Competition (which we were finalists in). I wanted something lighter but with great flavor. I found it with this. Huge citrus flavor with the 96 IBUs on the lighter malt backbone that clocks in at 4.2% ABV. I love what Homestead is doing; if you make it to Central, Ohio, check them out for sure.

Knee Deep's Citra Extra Pale Ale
A little heavy compared to the others on our list, but well worth it. Fantastic flavor that's mind blowing. *Review Coming Soon*

Knee Deep Belgo Hoptologist

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So, unfortunately, we must get straight to the point on this review. Normally we do our little banter and what have yo, but Drunk History starts shortly and there is a storm rolling in.

This choice was not made by the World Cup of US vs Belgium today, it was more of a 'huh, sounds good' choice. This 102 IBU, 9% ABV behemoth might actually be the thing to ease the pain of the soccer game.

This pours a nice amber color with a decent amount of off white head. The aroma on it is bliss. piney, citrus, spice, lemon and caramel all come rushing in, attacking your olfactory senses like an assassin in the night, leaving you wonder, what just happened, but in a good way. The flavor on this is HOPSUS BE PRAISED! The caramel flavor blends with the slight Belgian notes from the yeast up front, then a bus load of hops slams into your tongue doing 90 mph. A pungent blast of pine and bitter and citrus comes crashing into your taste buds, leaving them appeased, yet slightly assaulted. This finishes dry with some lingering hop stickiness to it. Not a big fan of Belgian IPAs, but this is one that all others should be rated against.

4.75/5 caps

-Nathan

Ah, at least the United States put up a good fight today. The game was definitely a nail-biter. Heart-wrenching, but Tim Howard is a beast.

Normally, I don't particularly care for Belgian IPAs. They can be done well, but few are. Count this among those that are good. My partner-in-zymurgy nailed the appearance and aroma. The Belgian yeast lends more of a peppery spice flavor than the banana and clove esters that I often don't prefer. There is a lot of caramel present in this, both in the aroma and the flavor. It's a complex beer, and the flavors work well together. It's a little sweeter than I care for, but it's still well done.

The one thing I'm surprised about is that Nathan didn't compare it to Flying Dog's Raging Bitch, his other favorite Belgian IPA. This is now readily available in Ohio, and coming soon to North Carolina (and possibly other markets; Knee Deep tripled their brewhouse capacity last year).

4.6/5 caps

-Jennie

Music pairing:"The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel
Food Pairing: beef enchiladas
Cheese Pairing: Queso Quesadilla

Ballast Point Sculpin IPA

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Ah, Friday, it's been too long since we last met. Well, seven days, to be precise, but does it count if it feels like it's actually been a month of Fridays??? This is the first Friday in ages that I haven't spent in a hospital, doctor's office(s), or chemo room. I wasn't sure what to do with myself other than to ask my partner-in-zymurgy about reviewing beer. Apparently a night of playing Cards Against Humanity with friends is out because I cracked a rib earlier this week, and it really hurts to laugh, cough, breathe. I usually laugh so hard that I'd probably crack another rib. Instead, let's drink a beer to numb some of the pain in my ribcage.

This is an award-winning beer, having been voted the best IPA in the country in a poll or two. It usually makes the top 10 beers of the country. It also took the gold medal this year (for the second time) at the World Beer Cup in the IPA category. Made in San Diego, this is one of the quintessential West Coast IPAs. The Tupac to the east coast's Biggie. Ballast Point started out, as so many breweries these days, by homebrewing. I'll tip my hat to that historical nugget. As a hophead, I've been dying to drink this. This hopaliciousness shall wait no longer.

It pours a crystal clear golden color with a quickly dissipating white head that was about a finger high. It has since decreased to a fluffy cloud atop my beer. The aroma on this is wonderful. so good that I waved it under Nathan's nose just to torture him with the scent. As it has warmed a tad, I'm picking up notes of caramel, toffee, and plenty of generic citrus and pine. Lots and lots of pine. Taking a sip, my taste buds are assaulted (in a good way) with fresh pine needles that fades away to caramel notes and then fades into oblivion with a note of freshly zested grapefruit and perhaps some mango. The carbonation on this is fantastic for a 7% ABV brew, and it leaves a vaguely sticky feel in the mouth.

I'm not sure if perhaps we sat on this for a bit too long, or if it's just not as dreamy as I'd hoped. The brewery's description speaks of peach, mango, apricot, and lemon. I'm not picking up many of these flavors, although the after-aftertaste does lead to a hint of peach. What I am left with is a strong desire to drink this closer to its bottling date, and to try the habanero version of this (please bottle it soon, as it's only available on tap in the taproom and at special events).

4.5/5 caps

-Jennie

So, apparently, Jennie is a big meanie head. Making me take a waft of this fantastic hoppy goodness, knowing that the anticipation may, in fact, actually kill me. It's been a long ass week at work, the busiest since I've been there with the company (2 1/2 years). I have aches and pains in places I didn't know existed; doing my own job (export shipping) while helping out with Mike with all the freight shipments (49 skids for one shipment today, along with the over abundance of orders to hit/exceed quota as it's end of the month and end of fiscal quarter). Enough about work, it's the fucking weekend now, right? You (and Jennie) are probably tired of hearing me bitch about work. Enough of Jennie's torment, I finally get to delve into this. How many of you actually read the second portion anyways? We should have a poll to find out.

As I turn on the Frank Turner (yes, I've been listening a lot to him lately, if you have a problem with that, clearly you haven't heard him), I admire the gorgeous golden color of the half-pint that's in front of me. There's still some puffy white head lingering, which shocks me as it's been about a half hour or so since Jennie started her review. So, since this has had time to warm up, the aroma is an interesting concoction of... hang on.... *sniff* pine, citrus, peach, caramel and some tropical fruits. Fantastic smelling. Oh, how I've longed to have this on my taste buds... but as I taste it, is it that we sat on it too long (purchased more roughly 3 months ago, sorry, but shit's happened that was out of our control). The hops seemed to have died off some, fuck, I feel like a terrible person now. I'm catching caramel from the malts with pine notes. Following the pine notes I catch some citrus and peach notes. Pretty much what was in the nose, but fainter. This is smooth drinking on the front end with bitterness toward the back. It's a nice crisp beer with decent carbonation that leaves a slight puckering with hints citrus in the finish. As Jennie said, this would be better fresher, but same point, it's enjoyable at this point where we are now. To ask, where are we? What are we doing here? Why are we here? Well, I don't have the answers to all the questions, but me, personally, I'm here to bring beer reviews to you to help me escape from the pains of daily life. I drink 'cause I'm thirsty, I drink 'cause I'm dry. I'm not quite yet 30, but I feel like I'm dying. I drink cause I want to, 'cause I need to, 'cause I don't know what else to do with my time. I won't say it, you can see it in my eyes....

4.5/5 caps

-Nathan-


Food pairing: Nathan's step-dad's recipe for jerk pork (AKA Mr. Jerry's Jerk Sauce)
Cheese pairing: A nice hunk of creamy habanero jack
Music pairing: Sublime, "Doin' Time"

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