ApriHop - Dogfish Head Brewery

    ApriHop is an American IPA that is brewed with apricot juice. This fruity and hoppy beer is brewed by Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, Delaware as their Spring seasonal. It also seems to be craved by psychotic, albino rabbits, so that's something.

    The apricot IPA pours a clear, brass color with a half-finger head with great retention.

    ApriHop's aroma is strongly fruity as the hops and apricot juice form their own unique smell. Citrus notes as well as the stonefruit scents can be picked out, as can an earthy undertone. Light malt sweetness lies underneath the fruit and hop scents.

    The fruity IPA is medium bodied and sports a medium level of carbonation. Overall, the beer feels nicely creamy on the tongue. Dogfish Head's love of higher-than-normal alcohol levels makes the beer's alcohol content of 7% ABV unsurprising.

Stay away from my beer, or I'll devour the little one's soul!

    ApriHop's flavor is actually kind of disappointing. I was expecting a nice, lightly fruity, hoppy beer. Instead the flavors I'm getting are mostly earthy and herbal hops notes with a strong ale flavor at the end. There really isn't much apricot OR hops flavor in the beer, especially when you consider that the beer's label describes it "massively hopped". The label goes on to describe that the majority of the "massive hopping" was dry hopping after fermentation, which explains why there is lots of great hops scents and not so much flavor.

    This beer's label has me really concerned that there is a population of apricot-crazy albino rabbits somewhere out there. Just looking at that thing's eyes tells me that it would stop at nothing to enjoy its sweet, sweet apricot nectar of the gods. Plus, it's a widely accepted fact that albinos actually consume the souls of their victims. All I know is that if I run into one of these things on the street, I'm outta there.

    I was very interested in Aprihop at first. I could easily see how apricot juice would go well with hops and was excited to give it a try. As previously stated though, I ended up being disappointed in it. The beer was still decent, but not at all as advertised..

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Fistful of Hops (Autumn) - Sun King Brewing Company

    Fistful of Hops is an American style India Pale Ale brewed by Sun King Brewing Company located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Fistful of Hops changes seasonally based on what combination of hops are available throughout the year. The malt base stays the same, but Sun King balances different hops on top of that base for each release. This particular release is the Autumn 2013 brew.

    The beer pours a hazy orange color with a half-finger head with amazingly good retention. Thousands of bubbles roil within the beer, even long after pouring. The lacing left on the glass by the foam is just as amazing as its retention.

    Fistful of Hops smells strongly of hops (surprising, I know). The hops scents include fruits such as cherries, oranges, and grapefruit, as well as some more floral and piney notes. There is a slight unpleasant acidic smell due to all the hops, though it's not too noticeable. Underneath all the hops smells lies a subtle, sweet malt scent.

    Sun King's IPA is medium bodied with a medium to high level of carbonation. Even with all of the bubbles, the beer comes off as very creamy. The ale finishes very dry, and leaves a small bit of acidy bitterness in the mouth. The beer has an alcohol content of 6.4% ABV.

I don't get how pure hops turn into beer, but ok.

    The malt base of Fistful of Hops is definitely present, though it doesn't stand out as more than a backdrop for the hops to play against. There were definitely more variations in the hops scents than there are in the flavor. Piney, resinous flavors dominate with a bit of grapefruit and cherry.

    For some reason this beer reminds me of the advertising campaign for Raisin Bran. You know, "two scoops of raisins in every box!". Instead, I'm thinking, "A fistful of hops in every can!" If this were the case, this would likely be the most bitter, disgusting beer on earth, but I would probably still try it...

    It's no secret, I'm not a huge fan of Sun King Brewing Company. I can admit though, that this is my favorite of their beers I have tried. I wish the beer's flavor had as much hops character as its scent did, though the beer is still not at all bad. I would rate this as a good IPA, but when it comes to IPAs which attempt to highlight hops it is only decent.

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Anti-Hero IPA - Revolution Brewing Company

    Anti-Hero IPA is an American India Pale Ale brewed in Chicago, Illinois by the Revolution Brewing Company. I recently visited the brewery, and this was the first beer of theirs that I tried. Here's my review:

    Anti-Hero pours a dark gold with a finger of off-white head with good retention. Even after the foam fades, a layer of bubbles remain and leave great lacing on the glass.

    The American IPA smells strongly of floral and fruity hops. There is definitely more of a fruity scent to the beer than the piney scents that can be present in highly hopped ales. There is also a mild undertone of grainy, sweet malts.

    Revolution's brew is surprisingly full bodied, with a medium to full mouthfeel and a moderate carbonation level. There is a slight oily slickness to the beer that is common with hoppy ales. The beer has an alcohol content of 6.5% ABV.

    Anti-Hero IPA tastes just as hoppy as it smells. Citrus, pine, and floral notes all combine into what can only be described as a hops bouquet. There is surprisingly little bitterness to the brew however, even with all that hop flavor. Anti-Hero's sweet, grainy malts likely have everything to do with keeping the potential bitterness down, as well as rounding out the beer's flavor. There is just the slightest bit of a soapy flavor to the beer though that keeps me from fully enjoying each quaff.

Forward, my beer comrade!

    I had never really thought about it before, but I'm realizing now that craft beer is expanding at a massive, and alarming rate, its likely that beer may be on its way to conquering the world! As their numbers grow, so do their specialties. Oh sure, the bottle says Pilsener, but it very well could be a Poisoner. There's a reason that beer earned the right to be called a Stout, and don't even get me started on whatever wetwork Red Ales had to go through to earn that title. It won't be long before we see beers marching down our streets. The only way to confront this growing menace is to continue to drink their soldiers to death before they can amass a force large enough to begin the battle! Will you take up the bottle and fight by my side?

    Joking aside, Anti-Hero IPA is a very good American India Pale Ale. I'm glad that this was the first of Revolution's beers that I tried, as it made me want to try all of their other offerings all the more. Even with the tiniest bit of offputting soap flavor, I'll still seek this AIPA out regularly.

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Hoplanta - Red Brick Brewing Company

    Hoplanta is an American India Pale Ale created by Red Brick Brewing Company in Atlanta, Georgia. I have to mention the quote on the label because it makes me laugh, it says: "Hoppier than a bullfrog with a stubbed toe!" I imagine that would be quite hoppy indeed!

    The IPA pours a slightly hazy, orange-amber color with a thin, half-finger, white head. The foam leaves some thin lacing on the sides of the glass.

    The beer's aroma is that of citrus fruits mingling with earthy, piney hops. There is a small bit of caramel sweetness behind the hops scents, as well as a light, bready smell.

    Hoplanta is medium to full bodied with a medium level of carbonation. I'm quite surprised how full the body is for an IPA. The combination of body and carbonation work together to create a very creamy mouthfeel. The ale finishes dry, with most of the flavors quickly dissipating after swallowing. The beer has an alcohol content of 6.7% ABV.

A good cure for a stubbed toe.

    Hoplanta features hops prominently, as most IPAs do. Bitter grapefruit and orange flavors mingle with the more earthy, piney, resinous flavors that hops are known for. There is a mild sweetness to the beer which keeps the more astringent bitter flavors at bay, while still letting some hop character come through. The only bitterness left in the mouth after swallowing is reminiscent of citrus rind.

    As I said before, I'm highly amused by the bullfrog with the stubbed toe line. It seems to me that frogs, especially ones with painful feet, are one of the animal types that most need a beer. I mean think about it, a huge number of their species is being found mysteriously dead, or creepily mutated with more than one head. Our current world hates frogs, and it's likely our fault as humans. If that wouldn't drive a frog to drink, I don't know what would. I don't know if Red Brick had frogs in mind when they made this beer, but I think that they might have unknowingly made a few amphibious friends with its creation.

    Hoplanta is a much fuller-bodied IPA than most I have had. This could be seen as risky if the fullness stuck around as a hugely bitter aftertaste, but Hoplanta avoids that problem and showcases some of the more common hops flavors wonderfully. My one real complaint with the beer is that the flavor seems to dissipate quickly, leaving a watery taste in my mouth. Not a bad IPA though. If you're ever in, or around Atlanta, this would be one to try.

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Evil Eye PA - Evil Genius Beer Company

    Evil Eye PA (hah..hah) is an American India Pale Ale brewed by the Evil Genius Beer Company which is located in West Grove, Pennsylvania. I have to admit that I might have chuckled a little bit about the multiple meanings of the beer's name.

    Evil Eye PA pours a pale copper color with an off-white head. The head actually lingers for quite a while, and leaves thick lacing on the glass.

    The beer smells of floral hops with noticeable malt sweetness. There is definitely more malt to the nose of this beer than many other IPAs. There is an almost skunky smell to the beer, however, as though the hops may not have been fresh when they were used to brew it.

    Evil Genius's IPA is light to medium bodied with what seems to be a low level of carbonation. The beer has an almost flat feeling to it. Evil Eye PA has an alcohol content of 6% ABV.

The Evil Eye of Sauron is always watching for bad beer.

    The IPA is hop forward in taste, with some bitterness followed by some floral flavors. The malts then take over and mellow out the bitterness with an almost honey-like sweetness as well as flavors of caramel. Again, however, I'm detecting what seems to be a slight skunkyness to the beer.

    Oh, I get it now. It's called Evil Eye PA, the evil eye is also called the stink eye, skunks stink, this beer tastes and smells skunky. I think we've uncovered how the beer got its name!

    I'm really disappointed in this beer. The floral and citrus scents in the beer's aroma made me think that it would taste much better than it did. I don't know if I got a bad batch, or if this IPA always tastes somewhat off. I just hope that Evil Genius realizes what went wrong and fixes it ASAP!

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Hogwild IPA - Aviator Brewing Company

    Hogwild IPA is an American India Pale Ale created by Aviator Brewing Company which is located in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina. After writing my previous beer review (Caged Alpha Monkey), I've come to fear beers with psychotic animals and lots of hops flowers on the label. You might say that I'm once bitten by a rabid hops animal, twice shy.

    I received this beer as part of my beer club's all cans month. I have mentioned before that I really like canned beers.

    The IPA pours a light golden orange with a large, thick head. I very lightly poured the beer and still ended up with the head nearly overflowing the glass.

    The beer smells like sweet citrus fruits, mainly grapefruit. Light malts can also be smelled.

    Hogwild is medium-light bodied with a medium-high level of carbonation. I was expecting there to be even more carbonation the way the beer exploded in my cup, so this is somewhat of a relief. There is no alcohol harshness to the beer which has an alcohol content of 6.7% ABV.

I've never really thought of pigs as "wild"...

    Aviator's IPA is actually quite well balanced. Sweet malts keep the piney bitterness from becoming unpleasant. While I would have liked more of a flowery hops profile to the beer, I have to admit that the more classic IPA flavors are very well done in this beer.

    Apparently when you feed hops flowers to pigs they become muscly ex-military slavering beasts! I can't believe that this isn't taught to us at an earlier age. I mean, imagine how easily a farmer could plant his hops near to his pig sty. All it would take would be one loose gate screw and BAM! ARMY OF CRAZED WILD HOGS! Terrifying.

    I was very relieved to find that this IPA was much better balanced than my previous experience. I have to keep in mind that I am rating this beer as itself, rather than rating it in comparison to other beers. Hogwild is a well done IPA, but doesn't add anything to the tried and true formula.

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Caged Alpha Monkey - CB's Brewing Company

    Caged Alpha Monkey is an American India Pale Ale brewed by CB's Brewing Company which is located in Honeoye Falls New York. The bottle's tagline reads that this is a "bold, East Coast animal that throws hops at you!" This beer was donated the Amulets and Ale by Emily Hohman.

    The American IPA pours somewhat hazy, bright copper color with around a finger of white head. The head leaves a slight lacing down the glass as the beer is consumed.

    Caged Alpha Monkey smells very hoppy with noticeable malt undertones. The hops aroma contains a mix of citrus and flowery tropical fruit with a little bit of pine resin.

    The beer is medium bodied and moderately carbonated. The beer finishes mostly dry with a little bit of oily resin left coasting the mouth. At 6.5% ABV, there is no noticeable alcohol character.

There are much worse things than hops that the monkey
could throw at you...

    Caged Alpha Monkey is very bitter. From the beer's aroma, I was hoping that there would be great, fruity, flowery hops flavors in the beer. Instead, there is solely overpowering, piney bitterness. The malt profile is almost non-existent, so the bitter hops are free to run wild amongst your taste buds. What is worse than the overpowering bitterness is the bitter and sour aftertaste that stays in your mouth long after swallowing the beer.

    The image I came up with for this beer has me thinking. Why don't we have beer zoos? Or even better, maybe we could get a bunch of different people drunk and lock them in cages while we watch what they do. You know, an interesting thing that I have noticed about humans is that generally we are okay with (joking about) doing weird things like this to each other, but if I were to even mention for a second that we get monkeys, rhinos, and giraffes drunk; PETA or some other organization would jump down my throat. For some reason, people tend to outwardly care more about animals than our own brothers and sisters. I'm not really up to the task of figuring out this bit of human psychology at the moment, but it's definitely an interesting issue to think on.

    As anyone familiar with this blog knows, I am a huge fan of hoppy beers. Unfortunately, Caged Alpha Monkey falls into a category of IPAs which I have called "novelty" IPAs. These beers seek only to compete on a bitterness level. Breweries attempt to see just how much heavy hitting hops bitterness they can pack into a normal beer for some sort of non-existent "beer cred". Nobody wins with beers like this. They are horribly unbalanced, they are off-putting, and nobody would ever buy them more than once for any reason other than "hey Billy, try this!" and then laughing at his face when he tastes it. It isn't just the "odd" breweries doing this either. Even some of my most respected breweries have at least one beer which falls into this novelty category. I really wish that they would just stop.

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Latitude 48 IPA - Boston Beer Company

    Latitude 48 IPA is an American India Pale Ale created by the Boston Beer Company located in Boston, Massachusetts. I purchased this beer as part of Samuel Adams' "Hopology" pack in hopes that the beers would be better than Sam Adams' norm.

    Latitude 48 pours an amber color with Samuel Adams' hallmark thick head which leaves lacing down the glass as it resides. A large amount of bubbles can be seen in the glass, making me suspect that this one is going to be over-carbonated.

    The AIPA smells strongly of hops. According to the bottle, this beer is made using a vast collection of hops varieties from all over the world, which is the likely reason that the hops scent to the beer is somewhat confusing. The beer has a fruity, yet almost metallic smell to it which isn't unpleasant as much as it is intriguing.

    Sam Adams' beer is light to medium bodied with a moderate level of carbonation, definitely not the huge level that I was expecting. Instead of being too foamy in the mouth, the carbonation beefs up the body and makes what would seem like a lighter body seem much thicker and more smooth.

There's a reason we all went West.

    The American India Pale Ale tastes much sweeter than I would have guessed. While there are some slight floral notes from the hops, a huge malt backbone is more strongly featured. There is a somewhat bitter aftertaste from the beer, but other than that Latitude 48 is somewhat lacking in hops for an IPA. I also taste what I think is a cinnamon spiciness. There is a slight alcohol warmth to the beer which is surprising at 6% ABV.

    Latitude 48 is named for the Pacific North West area of the United States which supposedly has the best climate for growing hops. I can only imagine that our ancestors must have known this, hence the push Westward. Sure, there was supposed to be gold and silver on the west coast, but I think that they really went West for green gold, hops! Of course this isn't something that they would teach us in school, and we all know that there is no way that this fact would appear in any Oregon Trail game, but there just might be something to the theory.

    I went into drinking Latitude 48 hoping to discover a decent IPA created by Samuel Adams. By all accounts, Sammy makes good beer, he just doesn't make beer that is anything special. If ever you want something that is easy-drinking, look to Sam Adams. I feel like this IPA kind of goes along those same lines. If you would like an easy introduction into IPAs without jumping right into the super bitter stuff, Latitude 48 might just be the perfect starting point for you!

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Two Hearted Ale - Bell's Brewery, Inc.

    Two Heated Ale is an American India Pale Ale created by Bell's Brewery, Inc. which is located in Kalamazoo, Michigan. American IPAs tend to be more fruity and floral in their hops selections as compared to the classic English IPAs which are usually more on the piney end of things. Two Hearted Ale has the distinguished honor of being my third favorite beer of all time. This is definitely my "go-to" beer when I'm out and nothing else sounds good.

    The beer pours a hazy yellow-orange with a nice two finger head on top. The beer leaves a good amount of lacing on the glass as the liquid level in the glass lowers.

    Common to most IPAs, Two Hearted's aroma is mainly that of citrus fruits with a small bit of pine-like scent as well. While there are notes of grapefruit in the aroma, lemon is the main citrus fruit in the ale's nose. Almost perfectly balanced with the hops scents is a sweet, almost muffin-like malt smell which reminds me of of baked goods.

    Two Hearted ale is a medium bodied beer with a low level of carbonation. The beer has a very creamy and easy-to-drink mouthfeel. After a few sips, an oily feeling begins to coat your mouth from the bitterness, but it never becomes unpleasant. At 7% ABV, Two Hearted Ale can sneak up on you and leaves the slightest alcohol warmth in your throat.

A stained glass window at Bells' showing Amboiju.

    The American IPA is not nearly as bitter as you would expect from the aroma. Bitter citrus notes are definitely present in the beer's flavor, but a sweet caramel malt flavor balances out the floral hops, keeping things pleasant. To me, the beer almost tastes like a sweet, lemon bread. The beer finishes a little more bitterly than it starts, though still not in a bad way.

    The name Two Hearted Ale comes from an ancient Native American story in which a young hunter attempts to feed his family by spear fishing for the great Amboiju, a stream fish said to be hundreds of years old. As these things go, times had become hard for the natives and this fish was their last hope. In his rush to become a hero, the young Indian speared the great fish, only to be carried miles downstream by the seemingly unharmed fish. On his long trek back upstream to his family, the young brave meets an elder fisherman who informs him that Amboiju cannot be killed using a normal spear, as the fish has two hearts. If one heart is wounded, the other heart keeps the fish alive until it can heal completely. At this point in the story, the old man teaches the young man (likely using a montage) to create a two-pronged spear with which to hunt the fish. With his new knowledge the young brave sets off on his journey back home, sticking close to the water in hopes of catching glimpse of his adversary. Sure enough, just as all hope seems to be lost and winter begins to set in, Amboiju is seen by the boy, sitting just a few feet off shore. The boy brandishes his newly crafted weapon and pounces into the water with the grace of a cat, piercing the great fish's side. Again, the fish pulls the boy through the water, though this time upstream. When the boy is able to lift his head from under the current he realizes that he is back in his village, and that the great fish was alive no more. Legend tells that Amboiju fed the boy's entire village for months, and allowed the tribe to regain their greatness among the proud Native American peoples.

    Of course I made up the story of Amboiju, but that sort of thing is why you're here, isn't it? Bell's Two Hearted Ale is my number three beer due to its amazing balance of sweet and bitter. I'll admit, when I first tasted the beer, long before I was a beer fan, I thought that it tasted like lemon dusting spray smelled, so I understand if others do not agree with me that it is a great beer. All I ask is that you give it another chance later on, once you have gotten used to the more bitter flavors in IPAs and might better appreciate the floral, citrusy hops in this great beer!

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Whitewater IPA - Boston Beer Company

    Whitewater IPA is an interesting take on the American India Pale Ale created by Boston Beer Company located, where else, but Boston, Massachusetts. Instead of the usual malts used in IPAs, Whitewater uses wheat, giving the beer a much different flavor than other IPAs.

    The IPA pours a hazy straw-yellow with a massive foamy white head which persists for quite a while. When the head finally fades, it leaves lots of nice lacing on the cup.

    Whitewater IPA smells mainly of wheat with a bit of citrusy hops and lemon. There is also a slight peach scent to the ale.

    The IPA is light bodied and moderately carbonated, though the carbonation works well to make the beer feel creamy. The beer leaves an oily feeling in your mouth after swallowing. There also seems to be little bits of wheat throughout the beer that at some points can be felt in your mouth.

Whitewater IPA thinks it is more extreme than it is...

     The first flavors which hit your mouth when drinking Whitewater IPA are the bitter, citrusy flavors of hops. There is a good bit of lemon and orange peel in the flavor which are common in wheat beers. There is a malty/wheat sweetness that follows the citrus bitterness as well as a funky fruit flavor. Whitewater's aftertaste is that of bitter hops and citrus. The beer finishes relatively dry and at 5.8% ABV, has no alcohol flavor.

    I really feel as though this beer has all the hops of an IPA, but just doesn't quite back them up with the malts needed for balance to live up to many of the great IPAs on the market. I honestly would not call this beer an IPA at all. I would call it an extremely hopped wheat beer, which will never be as good to me as a good old classic IPA.

    Whitewater IPA doesn't taste bad, but the flavors of orange peel, peach, wheat, and citrusy hops really don't cater to any one niche of beer fans. I feel as though fans of wheat beers will be turned off by the massive hops in the ale, and IPA fans will be turned off by the wheat and fruit flavors present. Sam Adams has a knack for making beers that are very drinkable, though I feel that Whtiewater IPA might just be an exception to that rule.

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