Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA

Why I tried this: As per Paul's recommendations at the UCF World of Beer I have continued to try Sierra Nevada beers and they continue to be great. When I saw that they had an IPA I knew that I had to try it.

Smell: subtle scent of citrus and piney hops.

Taste: Well Sierra Nevada pretty much impressed me again with their IPA, the Torpedo Extra IPA. This beer was pretty hoppy tasting but it was balanced very well with the citrus and sweet flavors. The hop flavor is definitely at the forefront of the flavor but it's nothing that makes the beer too bitter or un-enjoyable. The sweet malt flavor is present yet barely noticeable, pretty much exactly as I prefer it to be in an IPA. The hops and beer as a whole are very crisp and enjoyable.

This is a very good beer and between this and the others I have pretty much decided I love the Sierra Nevada Brewery. This is probably one of the breweries that I really look forward to hopefully one day having a brewery night at World of Beer. This beer receives an empty glass since it is an IPA I will drink again and again. I played pool with my little brother on Monday at Surfers Pub in Cocoa Beach while drinking this beer.



--Jon

Terrapin Hopsecutioner

Why I tried this: DID YOU SEE THE NAME OF THIS BEER?!??!!?!? By now you should know I love IPAs!  That being said how could I pass on a beer called Hopsecutioner.  Especially a "Hopsecutioner" that has some hops laid out on the guillotine.  Pretty much enough said, no point going into any more detail.

Smell: citrus scent with some floral in the scent.  Slight malt in the scent that seems to round it out and make the hops less pungent.

Taste: Well not quite as hoppy in flavor as I would expect a beer called "hopsecutioner" to be.  The hops are there and noticeable but not nearly as strong as I had been hoping for or planning.   A bit more of syrupy malty flavor then I would of expected.  I didnt detect much of the citrus scent at all in the flavor.  The caramel malt flavor blending with the hops rounded this beer out a bit more then I would of wanted.  Dont get me wrong I liked this beer, in fact I have a 6 pack of it in my fridge right now, but I would definitely consider it a much more mild IPA.

Overall I would give this beer a rating of a quarter glass left.  It is a beer I will enjoy time to time when I go out.  This beer had a very good flavor and is enjoyable however I wish the hops were a bit stronger in the flavor and make themselves more pronounced.  I would suggest this beer to someone that is interested in trying IPAs before I brought out the big guns of delicious hop tea IPAs.



--Jon

Anderson Valley Hop Ottin IPA

Why I tried this: Well, if you look at my last 6 or so reviews they are pretty much all IPAs. I really don't know what else to explain here as for why I got another IPA. In this specific instance I thought I hadn't had this one yet, but I had, so maybe that will make the review twice as amazing.

Smell: Hops and a nice outside pine scent. A nice walk in a forest.

Taste: A very smooth IPA, not amazing but it's pretty good. I usually look for a more crisp, strong flavor in an IPA and that's pretty much what this beer was lacking. It still tasted very good and went down really easy. The hop flavor of this beer, like the scent, is more of a floral flavor. There is a slight sweet malt flavor in the background but not anything that sticks out too strongly.

Overall I'd give this beer about a quarter of a glass left. I would probably get this beer again, not just on accident, lol. Though there were some characteristics missing that I look for in an IPA, the Anderson Valley IPA was still very enjoyable. I would probably suggest this beer to someone that was looking for another IPA to try.





--Jon

St. Peters India Pale Ale

Why I tried this: Continuing along my IPA run I saw an interestingly shaped bottle by St. Peters on the shelf. I noticed they had an IPA so I figured I could use another good IPA. I decided to give the St. Peters IPA a shot to see if I could keep what has been a great run going.

Smell: Not the hoppy scent I had hoped for, but malty.

Taste: Well this is officially the worst IPA I think that I have had to date, and I really really like IPAs. I probably will never drink or recommend this beer in my lifetime, wait...... not probably, definitely will not. It had a distinct flavor I can't describe that took over the whole flavor for me and I can't even really define it. It was a mostly stale cidery flavor or something. I really dont know how else to describe the flavor of this beer other then I did not like it at all.

I would give this beer a rating of a full glass. I never want a sip of this beer ever again. If it wasnt for the Old Speckled Hen and the Eerie Smokebender I would say this is the worse beer I have had at World of Beer since going.





--Jon

Boulder Mojo IPA

Why I tried this: Continuing on my IPA journey since it has been the beer style I have been in the mood for lately, I stumbled across the Boulder Beer Company Mojo IPA. The beer sounded and looked great so I decided to give it a try, plus my waitress also recommended it to me. My waitress's name was Marielle (sp?) and she also loved IPAs, so in addition to this IPA she made a few other suggestions that also turned out good.

Smell: Smelt like a more floral, citrusy, IPA. Hops present in the scent but this beer's scent was more notably citrus

Taste: This is probably one of the best IPAs that I have ever had. The blend of the floral tasting hops with the citrus flavors was fantastic. It made for a very smooth tasting IPA. I know smooth and crisp somewhat contradict each other but this beer had characteristics that made the flavor stand out in all the right areas. After the initial strong flavor of hops and citrus is in your mouth and you swallow the sip, it isn't an overly bitter hop flavor that remains. The remaining flavor is a pleasant blend of slight citrus hops that makes you want to sit for a second before you take your next sip.

This beer receives a rating of an empty glass. If I am in the mood for an IPA and I see this beer out somewhere I would most definitely order this beer. The flavors complimented each other very well and it made for a great tasting beer. I would absolutely recommend this beer to any friend that enjoys IPAs. This beer makes me excited to see what else Boulder Beer Company offers in beer selection.



--Jon

Samuel Smith India Ale

Why I tried this: This was the same day that I had the Hitachino Nest Classic Ale, and I was in the mood for an IPA among the others I had that day so I decided to give Samuel Smiths a try. I have had a few Samuel Smith beers before and they were pretty good, nothing amazing but they were pretty enjoyable, notably the stouts. With the arrival of this beer I was looking forward to being in sweet sweet hop heaven.

Smell: subtle earthy caramel scent. Not a strong smell at all.

Taste: The hop flavor does not expand into what I had hoped for at all. It was a surprise that was neither good or bad, just unexpected. The mild hop flavor made room for the sweet malt flavor that had notes of caramel and butterscotch. There was another flavor that came into this beer that was not too pleasant at all and I can't really define it, I just didn't really like it when it made itself apparent. This beer was mediocre and extremely mild for an IPA in my opinion.

I would give this beer a rating of a half full glass. This beer was mediocre and not real enjoyable but it didnt taste bad either. I would of liked to get more hops from the flavor or something else that would have given it a more full flavor. The flavor that lingers in the background that I can't define really dragged this beer down and took away from how smooth it could have been.




--Jon

Great Divide Titan IPA

Why I tried this: IPA's are one of my favorite beer types, IPAs are just one of the couple differences Jeff and I have in beer preferences.  While Jeff doesnt enjoy IPAs much I love them, especially when Im not in the mood for a heavier beer.  Great Divide has been a brewery I havent had much of an opinion on.  Ive had a few of their beers before and they were OK not good but not bad either.  While looking at the list I saw Titan IPA by them thought it was a cool name so I decided to give another Great Divide a chance.

Smell: This beer had a great scent to it.  The hops had a floral citrusy scent.  Had a sweeter scent to it as well that Ive found pretty typical of Great Divide.

Taste: This beer overall had a pretty good taste to it.  The hop flavor was not as strong as I would typically expect from an IPA.  The flavors of the sweet malts played a pretty big part in balancing out the hops a bit.  The beer gives you a great hop flavor then you start to sense the sweetness of the malts and as you arrive at the end of your sip you get a finish of some dry hops, but not really overly dry at all.  At 7.8% I really didn't taste much of the alcohol at all which is always a plus.

This beer will receive a rating of 1/4 of a glass left.  I haven't liked much of Great Divide too much but I really did enjoy their Titan IPA.  This beer had a good fresh hop flavor blended nicely with the sweet malt flavor.  If you are into either Great Divide as a brewery or IPAs in general this would probably be a good beer to try.



--Jon

Bell's Hopslam Firkin Cask

Why I tried this: It was Bell's night at World of Beer, and I was determined to try some fresh Bell's beer on tap. The Hopslam Firkin was actually one of the beers I had earlier in the night. I was originally drinking a Double Cream Stout when Logan stopped me and told me I was crazy if I didn't try the firkin. Apparently they had very limited quantity and it would be gone very soon, if not already. Kyle agreed, so I made it my next beer. Logan was being a jerkface and wouldn't give me two beers at once so unfortunately, that meant I had to slam the stout, so I won't have a proper review for it haha. This will probably be the last Bell's review I'll be doing for the time being.

Smell: I got a really pleasant floral hop scent that had a bit of bananas and lots of citrus, notably orange, mixed in. There were other faint sweet smells as well.

Taste: It sort of comes in two waves. The first wave you can taste some lightly sweet malts and more citrus/orange. However, once you get paste the initial sweetness, in comes the bitterness. The hops start to take over, and boy do they take over huge. You are left with a very bitter and hoppy taste in your mouth. I don't know if it was the firkin cask or what, as normally I really despise this, but I actually somewhat enjoyed the finish.

Overall, I'd probably give this beer a quarter pint glass. I normally don't like hoppy beers at all, and maybe it was the firkin cask doing something different, but I definitely enjoyed this beer. At 10%, it was fairly strong, but I couldn't taste the alcohol. There was just too much flavor there. The sweet smell and initial taste was a nice surprise, as in an IPA for me that is usually drowned out by bitter hops, but the hops let the other tastes come through first before they made their presence known. Very hoppy in the finish, but overall enjoyable. If you like IPAs, this is probably a must have.

--Jeff

Terrapin Hop Karma Brown IPA

Why I got this: I have enjoyed a few of the Terrapin beers from this brewery so when I saw this beer I figured it would absolutely be worth trying. I like IPAs but am not a huge fan of brown ales, and I have no idea what a brown IPA is, so here we go.

Smell: Malty scent with a crisp hop flavor. This beer has a pretty pleasant scent to it.

Taste: Right up front I got a crisp fresh hop flavor that was very pleasant. In my opinion the hop flavor of this beer is not overpowering at all, they are smooth and very consistent. After an enjoyable brief encounter with the hops, this beer slides in to the smooth malt flavors. The caramel malt flavors are fairly mild and there is a "toasty" flavor you can sense with the malts. Once you swallow the sip of beer you are left with a mild taste of the crisp hops.

Overall I would give this beer a quarter pint remaining. This beer was great and I really liked it, but it's not in my top favorites. I have gotten this beer several times when I went out to other bars and even recommend it to people that I think would enjoy it. I look forward to trying some more of the Terrapin beers at World of Beer UCF, they seem like a great brewery that makes some fantastic brews.




--Jon

Stone Ruination IPA

Why I tried this: This is another brew off of my IPA bender, and Stone is a brewing company that I've enjoyed other brews from. They always seem to make their beer with a little "like it, or fuck off" attitude, which was enough to engender me to their style.

Smell:This has a super piney hop smell, almost like sticking your nose into a bucket of raw hop flowers. While it's not a super pungent smell, it definitely lets you know what's coming up.

Taste: Ouch. This thing is like taking a sucker punch to the gums from the amount of hop flavor there is. I can almost feel the enamel in my teeth beginning to rot a way a little as I sip on this bastard of a brew. The strangest bit is actually the mouth feel though. It's a nice smooth feel, but the after taste almost punishes you for even daring to drink it.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it a 6. This is just a personal preferences sort of thing. I found Stone Arrogant Bastard to be an interesting drink, and the Ruination definitely follows suit for that in your face attitude. If you're into a more hoppy bitter beer, then I definitely recommend it, but if you're more of a fruity Mike's Lemonade swill drinker then stay away. Your kind aren't wanted or welcome with this group.

--Scott

Bell's Two Hearted IPA

Why I tried this: I was on an IPA binge this certain day, after coming off a Magic Hat #9. I'm generally not a huge IPA guy, as they always seem one dimensional and overly hoppy, but Magic Hat showed me otherwise. This baby was on draft and generally Bells makes a fairly quality product, so with one IPA down the gullet I braved this little number.

Smell: It has a nice herbal hop smell to it, balanced with a fruity scent that had some citrus notes to it akin to grapefruit. Definitely a strong nose on this one, and actually a huge head sitting at about 1.5 inches.

Taste: It's got a nice bitter hop taste to it up front, giving that nice herbal taste that you come to expect from an IPA. The citrus notes are nice and mild, nothing like a Belgian Wheat might have, so definitely a good addition there. The end is sealed off by a slight malt taste, not to strong, but present. A nice bitter American IPA to be sure.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this beer a 7.5: It's a very drinkable beer for sure, would go great on a nice spring or summer day, but not anything out of this world in my opinion. It's definitely worth a try though, especially if you can get it on tap. A bit of a side note however, make sure you let it warm up a few degrees first. If it comes out too cold it will mute all the flavor this beer has to offer.

--Scott

Victory Hopdevil

Why I tried this: I wanted to get an IPA under my belt, and it was on the draft menu for the week. Why not? It had a catchy name.

Smell: The beer is described as brewed with American hops and German malts. However, I couldn't smell the malts at all. Instead, my nose was overpowered by the smell of hops. It was rather unpleasant, so I didn't pry further.

Taste: Unfortunately, it tasted exactly as it smelled. My taste buds were completely overpowered by hops. I honestly felt like I was drinking grass soup. There were no other notable flavors to speak of. Very unpleasant, unless you're a masochist.

On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give this beer a 3. About the only thing I can say of the beer is that it seemed to be brewed of quality standards. The smell, the flavor, and the overall experience with the beer was just very one dimensional, too strong, and simply poor. There's really not much else to say here. I do not recommend this beer, unless you are the biggest IPA fan in the world.

--Jeff