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.