Well, I think they named a beer after me! Bitter Woman IPA tonight is brought to us by Tyranena Brewing in Lake Mills, Wisconsin. Although they somehow messed up my portrait, I am quite a bitter person who loves bitter beers. If I were better at Photoshop, I would totally replace the handsome woman on the label with a picture of yours truly. The side of the bottle, however, refers to an Aunt Cal, allegedly a former paramour of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who ended up never marrying. Sounds like she was more sad than bitter. Nevertheless, we are encouraged to drink this with a bitter woman, so you all get to drink it with me.
My bitter story of the day goes something like this: As many of you know, Nathan is an Ohio fan, while I am a die-hard Michigan fan. It is Rivalry Week here, in case you don't follow the college football world. Not only do our teams play each other with all sorts of stuff on the line, but we also play each other for the championship for our fantasy football league. So, I went to put my seven-year-old to bed, and he asked me to read him a story. We are currently in the middle of reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I looked down at his pajama pants and had to tell him no story tonight, not because of behavior or other issues, but because he had the audacity to wear Ohio sweatpants to bed during rivalry week. He's not even an Ohio fan! (Northwestern, natch... because purple is his favorite color and he loves cats; they are the Wildcats. At least he is keeping it within the Big Ten.) I think that was a pretty bitter response.
Anyway, shall we move on to the beer? This pours a medium orangey golden color with a couple fingers of off-white head that don't stick around for long. It had some chill haze from the refrigerator, but that has since cleared. The aroma on this is wonderful. Grapefruit, pine, orange, and a hint of caramel waft past my nose, while no particular aroma really overwhelming. As I go take my first sip, I notice that the head has now almost completely dissipated. Flavors of pine and caramel overcome my palate, and it finishes very piney and bitter. I like the finish, but I'm a little disappointed in the beer overall. The aroma on this was quite promising, but the flavor is pretty flat and one-dimensional. It's almost like drinking pine sap. It is medium-bodied and really leaves nothing remarkable for mouthfeel. At least the finish isn't too disappointing.
This is one of two Tyranena beers we brought back from our last trip to Peoria. The other one will follow soon.
3.6/5 caps
-Jennie
Babe, we do this every year, but to make it official, it's 10:11 on Monday November 24th and That Team Up North still sucks. To edit your post, it's not 'Ohio', it's "THE Ohio State University." You call us Ohio as per your ham-eating fat sack of shit coach, who's on his way out, who defeated us once. Did you know he went to the MAC for college (Ball State)? Is that because your school was too prestige at the time to let some Don Vito-looking bastard on the team? He knows who Ohio is and who Ohio State is. For those who aren't aware of the difference, I'll do a quick breakdown. Ohio is a university in Southern Ohio known for its parties and riots during Daylight Savings; Ohio State is a university in Central Ohio known for its parties and riots during football season. Ham-eater and your other terrible coach (Rich Rod) have brought down your team to where one of your rivals has taken your only claim to fame as late (best win percentage of all time).
Football rivalry aside, This has had time to warm up some while she-who-roots-for-the-wrong-team did her rant. This now has no chill haze to it, but is a clear orange-golden color with faint off-white head lingering around. The lacing on the side of the pint glass shows where the head once was. Nice lacing.
This 5.75%, 68 IBU beer is brewed with Magnum, Cascade and Amarillo hops with 2-row, pale, caramel, and carapils malts (according to a picture from Tyranena's website). The aroma is grapefruit and pine heavy with faint caramel and earthy notes taking backside to the hop characteristics. The first sip, pine with hints of some caramel, occasional grapefruit zest coming through from time to time, but mostly pine. The finish is bitter and very resinous. Honestly, not bad, not A+. It's nice to enjoy something that we can't obtain in Ohio though.
3.6/5 caps
-Nathan-
Cheese pairing: A grassy local farmer's cheese
Food pairing: Ham salad sandwich
Music pairing: Alanis Morrissette, "You Oughta Know"
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