Avery's Colorado IPA

I didn't purposely start my IPA journey will the low IBU beers and work my way up to the higher hop content ales, but that's the way it worked out. It's a "Colorado IPA". According to my research (i.e. 5 minutes of Googling, Colorado IPAs are kind of a middle ground or amalgamation between the ultra-bitter West Coast IPAs and the East Coast IPAs that concentrate on extracting fruity esters from the various hop varieties. 

Avery's Colorado IPA does seem to fit the bill. At 69 IBUs, it certainly packs a hop bitter bite. But that bitterness is far from the astringent quality that you often find in true West Coast IPAs. In addition to the hoppiness, there's an unexpected malt character that you often find in a brown ale. There are various lurking-beneath-the-surface favors competing for attention: pine, citrus, pineapple, and even some sweet bell pepper. There's a floral halo surrounding it all that makes for a wonderfully complex brew.

Deschutes Fresh Haze IPA

Deschutes Brewery has never let me down. They brew some outstanding ales in many different styles, and Fresh Haze is no exception. It pours a hazy apricot hue, with a thin amber head. The 6.5% ABV puts in solidly in the IPA camp, with the 45 IBUs being in the low to mid range of a traditional IPA's hoppiness. There's a mixture of hop profiles, with a balance between piney and citrussy. The citrus manifests as lemon, orange and grapefruit with a little tangerine. Not particularly complex, but a good, solid IPA.

Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA

As we continue on our exploration of India Pale Ales, we come to Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA. Remember when, during yesterday's beer reviews, I bemoaned the bastardizing of the term "India Pale Ale" by calling virtually anything an IPA ? Well I can say with all confidence that 60 Minute IPA is fully worthy of the name. A 6.0% ABV and a rockin' 60 IBUs are all the receipts that it needs to claim the title.

With the high bitterness level (SIXTY IBUs!) there is an obvious, yet surprisingly, not an overwhelming hop character. It's there, but it isn't taking the enamel off of your teeth. The pour is the hue of ripe pineapple, with a hefty three-finger cumulo-nimbus head. And there's a lot of hoppy variety, There's some sweet pine, there's citrus, there's even a little generic floral. The citrus leans toward lemony, with a little grapefruit sneaking up from around the corner. I'd pair this with some broiled salmon, or maybe even some hard cheese and honey crisp apples. Good stuff! 7.5/10 on the IGB IPA scale.

Crane Brewing Farmhouse IPA

Along the lines of the definition of an IPA changing to include just about everything, we have the combination of styles: you have black IPAs, red IPA's, session IPAs, Baltic IPAs, Belgian IPAs...the list goes on and on. Today's beer is a Farmhouse IPA. The Farmhouse style, sometimes referred to as a saison, is a style that has many similarities to a Belgian ale, and indeed originated in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium. Farmhouse ales tend to be creamy, smooth and light.

Crane Brewing combined the farmhouse style with the IPA style to create what is essentially a higher ABV, medium IBU Farmhouse. The 6.8% ABV could qualify it as an IPA, while the 28 IBUs are more in pale ale territory. There is virtually no hop bitterness, although the higher alcohol content is evident. There are a lot of flavors competing for attention - they include banana, bubble gum (don't laugh - that a fairly common result of Belgian yeast in a beer), some breadiness and a hint of pine. As the ale warms up there are some tropical fruits - mango and pineapple - in there. Pretty decent, especially of you're a fan of Belgian ales.

Avery's Pacer IPA

As most beer aficionados know by now, the India Pale Ale  style originated when English brewers, in order to ship their product to their troops in India, increased the alcohol count and the amount of hops, as preservatives. In American craft beer circles, India Pale Ales (IPAs) originally had quite high IBU hop bitterness) ratings, as well as high ABV (alcohol by volume). Eventually "IPA" became more of an overarching "brand" than a strict style descriptor. Anything that wasn't a stout or porter seemed to have "IPA" in the name, beers that could have been better described as pale ales, or ambers.

Pacer IPA from Avery brewing, should probably have been styled a pale ale with its 4.5% ABV and only 25 IBUs. Nonetheless, if we set aside the inappropriate name, Pacer is a pretty decent ale. It pours a lemonade yellow topped with a pinky's width of brilliant white foam. There's a melange of flavors that float around: lemon, mango, papaya, orange zest, pineapple. There's a little bit of pine, but very subdued. I'd recommend Pacer IPA as a summer ale - 7/10 on the IGB scale.

Upslope Blackberry Lemon Sour Ale

Two in a row! Yay! Upslope isn't a brewery that I'm familiar with - this may be the first of their beers that I have tried, but I am not disappointed. This sour ale pours an interesting shade of pinkish red, with a dinky little pink head. It's referred to a wild ale (see previous review for explanation). The tartness is quite subdued, but also very refreshing. The blackberry and lemon balance together very well and make for a lovely lawnmower beer.

Odell's Sippin' Pretty Fruited Sour

After last night's pineapple catastrophe, my faith in fruit-flavored beers was restored. I'm keeping with this week's theme of sour beers, many of which have some kind of fruit flavor added. Sippin' Pretty has açai, guava and elderberry, as well as pink Himalayan Sea Salt added. It doesn't say so on their website, but Beer Advocate says that it's a wold ale, which sours often are. A wild ale is an ale that is fermented, not with yeast added in production, but by leaving the vats open to air and letting "wild" yeast, i.e. ambient yeast, do the job. Sippin' Pretty pours a delightful pink, similar to what you'd see with pink grapefruit, with an unexciting pinkish head. All of the aforementioned flavors meld beautifully, and the tartness is just right. 9/10 on the IGB Sour Scale.

Destihl Brewery Hawaii Five Ale

I am not generally opposed to fruit flavors in light ales

But

Too fucking much...

Dogfish Head SeaQuench Ale

Dogfish Head is one of those breweries that just can't get it wrong! I've had this sour mash-up a half dozen times on tap, but this is the first time I've been able to sit down & do a review.

SeaQuench is a combination of three ale styles: The lager-ale hybrid, Kölsch; Gose (both of which I've reviewed recently) and Berliner Weisse, a sour wheat beer that originated in Berlin. It's flavored with sea salt (as befits a gose), lime and black lime (dried lime). Two of the three components are sours, so SeaQuench is quite tart, but balanced by the smoothness of the Kölsch. In addition to the main flavors there's a hint of coriander and white pepper. If you're a sour beer fan, this is one that I'd recommend. 8.5/10 on the IGB Sour Scale.