A Pint Half Full

I went on a little IPA binge a couple weeks ago, went to my Total Wine on the hunt.  As usual I stood there in the beer aisle, debating what I wanted to try.  It's like going to Toys R Us as a kid and picking which GI Joe you wanted next.  I was in the mood for something hoppy that would blow my mind, pucker my mouth, and shrivel my tongue (sometimes you're just in one of those moods). 

IPAs, or India Pale Ales, were originally brewed to survive the long journey from England to India along that "trade-route-that-we-learned-about-in-high-school".  These beers were brewed with tons of hops to take advantage of the preservative nature of the ingredient.  That means these beers are all about that hop bitterness and aroma that opens up your sinuses.  When tasted, you'll get a whiff of spice, pine, perhaps some citrus (grapefruit, lemons, oranges) followed by a dryness or at least lingering bitterness to the back of the tongue.

I asked the beer guy at Total Wine what he recommended and he told me about two beers from breweries from the West Coast.  Seems like alot of good beers are from Cali these days. 


I picked up the two that he recommended and hurried home to check out the action.  Both are good examples of what I think an IPA and an Imperial IPA should taste like.  The Imperial is by definition even heavier on hops and malt so if you're not used to the big flavors, it might destroy your taste buds.  After drinking these, I had a Miller Lite the next day and it literally is like going from life to death (extreme hyperbole warning).  Here are my tasting notes from a few weeks ago:

Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA - piney and grassy hop aroma with some apple and a little minty.  clears the sinuses.  taste strikingly bitter at first but mellows out quickly.  alcohol taste prominent.  finishes crisp and wet.  thirst quenching.  yum.

Green Flash Imperial IPA - super tangy citrus, like fresh lemon and orange zest.  a bit of alcohol in the aroma.  when drank, there is some sugar honey sweetness at first with some hop flavor mixed in and then hop bitterness hits you and lingers for another 20 seconds.  really incredible and kills any subtleness to other present flavors. must swallow at least a couple times in order for the bitterness to subside.  wow.