IPAllapalooza -- IX

Only one tonight (so far): Green Flash Hop Head Red, which isn't really technically an IPA. Okay, whatever, but it's brilliant. I wasn't that impressed with the Green Flash West Coast IPA in bottles (loved it on draft), thought it kind of blaring and harsh, but this was great. Fresh piney fruit, deliciously lively and just this side of sweet in the mouth, bitter but not astringent finish. Yum. Don't care if it's 'not an IPA,' it's one of the better entries in the IPAllapalooza.

IPAllapolooza -- VIII

Couple more -- three, actually -- IPAs...of sorts.

First up, Boulder Mojo Rising DIPA. A very hefty, solid DIPA, big-bodied, aromatic, robustly bitter. Maybe too hefty; there was almost too much body here, although it never went sweet-flabby on me. Cathy really liked this one.

Next: Thomas Hooker Hop Meadow IPA. Now, this one I really liked. Fresh, clean, hoppy yet not overbearing, and a great brisk finish that begged for another sip. I'd go for more of this, a lot more.

Finally, later, after an old friend stopped by and we wound up on the deck, drinking beers and listening to the neighbor kids underage-drinking back on the ballfield (okay, I didn't know for sure they were drinking, but I have faith that they were), we opened a bottle of Green Flash Le Freak, one of those so-called Cali-Belgique beers (that are really an excuse to overhop just one more kind of beer, mom...please?), a tripel/IPA fusion. It's arresting: big nose of hops and weird phenolic fruit, a lava-like heavy body spiked with a bitterness that doesn't seem to meld with the malt, and a muddled finish. I did not like this one much. Kind of like putting Plochman's Chicago Fire Tabasco Mustard on sushi. Two good things do not always make a third good thing when combined.

IPAllapolooza -- VII

I did get to stop at Mahar's in Albany today, but only briefly -- sorry, Bill, I didn't get a chance at any WiFi to let you know, we should have done cell #s -- and grabbed a Harpoon IPA. Actually, I had a few sips of Cathy's: I had a Chiswick Bitter (okay; should have waited for cask at Memphis) and a Guinness 250th Anniversary (nice: full, a bit chocolatey, much better body). The 'Poon IPA is indeed more like a pale ale, but it's good: drinkable, fresh, good hop character (not massive, but well-defined). Think of it as a winning jockey next to DIPA's NFL linebacker.

Then I had some Wolaver's IPA, another organic. This was more like an ESB: malty, not a lot of hop character. Okay beer, but I wouldn't think "Oh, an IPA," if someone handed it to me blind.

IPAllapolooza -- VI

Sorry, no WiFi in Dover Plains: we traveled to Cathy's mom's yesterday, and stopped at Triumph New Hope on the way to pick up a growler. What to have... Hey, Simcoe IPA! I've been wanting more of this since the Manayunk Fest. We not only got a growler, we got two glasses right there to slake our pre-travel thirst.

Good idea! The Simcoe is killer good: light but not wimpy, authoritatively hoppy without being brassy or harsh, and fresh as balls. We never did get into the growler, but that bad boy's going down tonight.

(By the way...we're in Albany, and just found a beer garden joint (Wolff's) next to the Miss Albany diner...Hmmm...)

IPAllapolooza -- IV

Last night's IPA was New Holland Mad Hatter. I like New Holland beers...sometimes. But Mad Hatter has just never done much for me. I find it blaring, without subtlety, and shouty. So it was last night when I tried it once again. I was ready to like it: we're getting pretty darned fresh New Holland these days, so maybe that would help. Didn't. Bring me more Poet, I'll drink that all night, but the Mad Hatter just yells "BITTER!" in my mouth, and stomps around like a loonie. I like an authoritative beer, but this one's more like a blowhard.

IPAllapolooza -- III

Onwards!

Avery IPA was my only IPA of the day yesterday (been kind of busy, and I'm just getting to it, hope to have more tonight), and it was a beauty. Orange-gold, brassy and sassy, with a tight cap of soft creamy froth that just never died, the whole way through the pint. It was lively, not thick or heavy, and not overly bitter or harsh at all. Full of hops, but not full of itself.

The hops beat goes on...

IPAllapolooza -- II

On we roll, without a care. First up tonight: Lakefront IPA. I haven't had many beers from Lakefront (dammit. LIPA is hazy, fresh-smelling (citrus, grass), and drinkable. Take Bell's Two-Hearted and dial the hops down a bit, the body up a bit, and you've got it. I'm liking IPAs that are drinkable, not insane. I want my DIPAs to be insane, and I want my pale ales real drinkable.

Cathy, on the other hand, doesn't care for it. Says it has "that buttery thing" that she doesn't like. Diacetyl? I have a very high threshold for diacety; I just don't notice it until it's overwhelming. I dunno. Maybe she's got something. But I don't mind drinking the rest of it at all.

Next? Deschutes Red Chair IPA, one of their Bond Street series. That seems quite appropriate, actually, because this tastes like a brewpub beer, one you'd like to sit and enjoy at a bar while talking with your friends. Red Chair is quite smooth, with no harshness. There's a good flow of hops aroma as I suck in a sip, it's good, it's really nice.

Taste this, and you know that Deschutes has been brewing great beer for a long time. It actually reminds me of Jameson 18: round, beautiful, without the trace of a flaw. In fact...after this beauty, the Lakeside taste clunky, rough, awkward. Wow. I love side-by-side tasting. I love this beer, too.

But...let's put it in context. Is it an IPA? The brewery says it's 6.4%, and 55 IBU. That sounds like IPA to me. But I read "reviews" that say it's more like a pale ale, not an IPA. What the hell has happened to us? Might be able to make more out of this than a series of tasting notes after all. G'night, Jack!

IPAllapolooza -- I

No explanation, but... I'm going to be trying a lot of IPAs in the next couple weeks, and posting quick tasting notes. Firsties...

Gritty's 21 -- Good, pure Gritty's (Brit hops, solid body), but...I was expecting something a bit more outbound for a 21st anniversary beer. I liked it, but I wanted to like it.

Founders Centennial IPA -- Big, solid (doesn't taste like fish), and much more bitter than the Gritty's. Surprisingly non-piney/citrus, though, given the name; maybe a little old? I keep trying this beer, hoping to find out what all the fuss is, and I've had good, great beers from Founders, but the pep others get from this one eludes me.

More to come...