Imperial IPA (Green Flash Brewing Co.)

Green Flash is out of San Diego County. The name refers to a "rare optical phenomena that occurs shortly after sunset or before sunrise, when a green spot is visible for a short period of time above the sun, or a green ray shoots up from the sunset point." I grew up out on the West Coast and never experienced one, but then again I really didn't know what it was or where to look for it. Its does sound pretty amazing. Anyways, lets get back to the beer.

According to the Green Flash site:

San Diego-style IPA, as it has come to be known by many, is super-hoppy, high gravity, yet highly quaffable ale. Our Imperial IPA is created in this new tradition with intense hop flavors and aromas from a unique blend of Summit and Nugget hops. It's all about the hops!

Pours a brilliant, glowing orange color. Its a great looking beer with a big fluffy stark white head. Once that head fades, it leaves a lot of lacing inside the glass. I really can't get over the color of this beer.

Wow, talk about an intense smelling beer. Its ridiculously hoppy. Lots of grapefruit, pineapple, orange and some pine. You can just about smell the stickiness from the hops. My guess is if you spilled some of this on you, that hop smell might never go away. I don't think I'd mind too much. 

Taste is more of the grapefruit and pineapple sweetness at first followed by a tongue drying (and lashing) by the massive amount of West Coast hops. Its a very bitter IPA that is definitely leaning towards being a one-sided hop monster, but hell if you're a hop head this is your kind of beer! Did I mention it cracks the century mark when it comes to IBUs? I love it for what it is...

BEER FACTS

Name: Imperial India Pale Ale

Style: Imperial/Double India Pale Ale

Brewery: Green Flash Brewing Company

Location: Vista, California, USA

Container: 22 oz. bottle

Malts: ?

Hops: Summit & Nugget

ABV: 9%

IBUs: 101

IPA (Harpoon Brewery)

One thing that I will always love about Harpoon is the fact that they made an IPA their flagship beer. You've got to love that. Go anywhere in Boston and chances are you'll find Harpoon on tap, its pretty much everywhere. I'm sure its been the gateway IPA for many hopheads in the Hub and surrounding suburbs. I can't even begin to imagine how many pints I drank while living in Allston, Brighton, Cambridge, Quincy etc...

Harpoons site has this to say about their IPA:

The high hopping of Harpoon IPA is not only noticeable in the nose but especially in the finish. The lingering bitter finish of this beer is not harsh or astringent, but crisp and pronounced. This is created, in part, by dry hopping – a technique that involves adding fresh hops to the conditioning beer to provide a fresh hop aroma.

Pours a sunshiny golden yellow color with a nice fluffy head that leaves some great lacing along the sides of the glass. Carbonation level is pretty nice with lots of bubbly activity. A great looking pour that makes this beer look really refreshing.

Smells like nice fresh hops, some hay and grass, a little yeasty along with some slight citrus notes. When you get a fresh pint of this the hop smell is very strong and extremely inviting.

Taste is bitter, crisp and dry in a nutshell. To be more specific its citrusy hops, slightly spicy and very bubbly on the tongue. This is a beer that really reminds me of having some pints outside in Boston. Its a wonderful summertime beer or anytime beer at that. Harpoon's IPA is an all around tasty IPA. Not a hop bomb but a solid example of the style.

BEER FACTS

Name: Harpoon IPA

Style: India Pale Ale

Brewery: Harpoon Brewery

Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Container: 22 oz. bottle

Malts: 3 different malts...?

Hops: Cascade

ABV: 5.9%

IBUs: 42

Acme IPA (North Coast Brewing Company)

The Acme brand has been around for quite some time, over 100 years in fact. It was started after the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco and managed to survive in one form or another all the way through the 1980's. Nowadays the brand is held by North Coast Brewing in Fort Bragg and they're probably brewing the best beers ever to go by the Acme name.

From the North Coast site:

Acme IPA is profoundly hoppy, finished with over a pound of fresh whole hops per barrel. The result of this generous hopping is a beer that is deliciously dry, and eminently drinkable in spite of its apparent strength.

The California IPA pours a luscious golden amber color with about an inch of head. Its a clear, crisp pour with very nice carbonation levels. 

The smell reminds me very much of a hopped up Red Seal ale. Its extremely fresh and floral smelling with a hint of honey and malt sweetness. Definitely some citrusy (grapefruit and lemon) smells as well.

Taste is outstanding. A great American IPA. Its well balanced, citrusy and bitter with a nice malt sweetness to balance it out. The fresh taste of the hops is so key to a great American IPA and this one really hits it spot on. Nice grapefruit notes as well as some piney tastes. Great stuff, way to keep the Acme brand alive with a tasty IPA!

BEER FACTS

Name: Acme California IPA

Style: India Pale Ale

Brewery: North Coast Brewing Company

Location: Fort Bragg, California, USA

Container: 12 oz. bottle

Malts: ?

Hops: ?

ABV: 6.5%

IBUs: 55

North vs South: A Battle of Fresh Hop Ales

VS

Last year Sierra Nevada released their first bottled version of their Harvest Fresh Hop Ale, a beer brewed with fresh raw hops harvested from the Yakima Valley in Washington State. This past month they followed it up with the first release of their Southern Hemisphere Harvest Fresh Hop Ale, a beer brewed the same way with hops harvested in New Zealand (the only place that harvests hops during "our" springtime. The question is, how do these beers stack up against eachother?

Let the battle of hemispheres begin!

Brewery

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company (both)

Location

Chico, California, USA (both)

Names

Harvest Fresh Hop Ale (11th Edition)

Southern Hemisphere Harvest Fresh Hop Ale (1st Edition)

Style

American Pale Ales/India Pale Ales (both)

Container

24 oz. bottle (both)

Malts
Two-row Pale & Caramel (both)

ABV

6.7% (both)

Bittering Hops
Northern - Centennial from Yakima Valley in Washington
Southern - Pacific Hallertau from New Zealand


Finishing Hops

Northern - Cascade & Centennial from Yakima Valley in Washington

Southern - Motueka & Southern Cross from New Zealand

IBUs
Northern - 60-65 IBUs
Southern - 66 IBUs

Yeast

Ale Yeast (both)

Looks like...

Northern - Pours a slick, clean golden tangerine color. You swear that you can see the alpha acids floating around within that beautiful amber liquid. The head is fluffy and has the rings of a fresh beer.

Southern - Pours a nice, deep dark golden color with a decent-sized head on top. Carbonation is moderate. Head slowly dissipates leaving some nice lacing along the top of the glass. A great looking pour.

Both beers look great in a glass. Because they are brewed with the same malts they look almost identical.

Smells like...

Northern - Smell is outstanding. Its bitter lemon, grapefruit, pure fresh humulus lupulus juice in all its glory. There is a bit of breadiness to compliment the overload of hoppiness. Pure olfactory heaven if you ask me and I am a hophead.

Southern - Smell is fresh, spicy hops. Definitely floral but I also get some sweet fruit notes, kind of like Froot Loops cereal a bit (I can't think of a better way to describe it). Don't get me wrong, this is definitely a hoppy smelling beer! Hopheads won't be let down by the smell.

Both have very powerful fresh hop smells. You really get a good idea of just how fresh the hops that went into these beers were when the brewing took place. Great job Sierra Nevada!

Tastes like...

Northern - Taste is bitter. Go figure. This is fresh hop taste at its best and very high on the tongue drying scale. Lots of citrus and piney notes. You have to respect a brewery for being able to create a beer that satisfies all the hop loving senses. Don't worry, this is balanced as well. You can drink it and not say its another one sided hop bomb that lacks character.

Southern - Taste is crisp, tongue-drying and has a long lasting aftertaste of hop bitterness. There is a strong acidic quality to this beer. Its kind of like the alpha acids are tiny scrubbing bubbles really giving it to the inside of your mouth. Its mouth puckering with not a whole lot of malt backbone. A lot of this has to do with the brewing process I'm sure. I am however not sure that term "robust" properly describes the hop presence in this beer. I'd say that it is dominating! Nonetheless, this is a great beer if you need to free base some hops to get your fix.

Overall...

Personally I liked both of them a lot! The Northern was more balanced and had a lot of what I am used to from a big citrusy/piney West Coast IPA. All the qualities I love from a big hoppy beer were there. The Southern was a little less balanced and the after taste was drawn out and very, very bittering. Not a bad thing, it just might not lead to you grabbing another bottle right away. I'd have to go with Northern being the more drinkable of the two. However, I'd have to say that both are tremendous beers in their own right and I look forward to the continuation of this series.

The Runner-Up is...

Southern Hemisphere Harvest Fresh Hop Ale

The Winner is...

"Northern Hemisphere" Harvest Fresh Hop Ale

Southern Hemisphere Harvest Fresh Hop Ale (Sierra Nevada)

The Southern Hemisphere Harvest Fresh Hop Ale from Sierra Nevada is one of three "fresh hop" ales (the other two being Chico Estate Harvest  Fresh Hop Ale and Harvest Fresh Hop Ale) that they've released this past year. The Harvest Fresh Hop Ale that was released last year was unbelievable and I've been looking forward to this release since I first read the press release awhile back.

The label, which features a map of New Zealand on it, reads:

This ale marks our journey to the only place on the planet where fresh hops are harvested in our spring, the Southern Hemisphere. Our task was daunting-we needed to get the hops picked, dried, flown halfway across the world and into our brew kettle in a little over a week's time.

The result is a North-by-South fusion of fresh New Zealand hops blended with the finest North American malts. Its robust hop character presents an intriguing floral-citrus aroma leading to layers of fresh-hop spiciness. Enjoy!

From the Sierra Nevada site:

To make this project happen, Sierra Nevada traveled to New Zealand to harvest fresh hops, and then transported them from the southern hemisphere to Chico where they were immediately used in brewing. Like their award-winning Celebration Ale, the fresh hops in this beer are dried right after being picked then shipped immediately to Chico for brewing, so that they retain their peak aromatics and flavors. Freshly harvested hops are richer in hop oils so they impart more hop aroma and hop spiciness into beer.

The So-He pours a nice, deep dark golden color with a decent-sized head on top. Carbonation is moderate. This beer is almost identical in appearance to the original Harvest Ale.

Smell is fresh, spicy hops. Not so much the grapefruit citrus smell that you get from Pacific Northwest hops, but a different sort of hop freshness. Its definitely floral but I also get some sweet fruit notes, kind of like Froot Loops cereal a bit (I can't think of a better way to describe it). Don't get me wrong, this is definitely a hoppy smelling beer! Hopheads won't be let down by the smell.

Taste is crisp, tongue-drying and has a long lasting aftertaste of hop bitterness. There is a strong acidic quality to this beer. Its kind of like the alpha acids are tiny scrubbing bubbles really giving it to the inside of your mouth. Its mouth puckering with not a whole lot of malt backbone. A lot of this has to do with the brewing process I'm sure. I am however not sure that term "robust" properly describes the hop presence in this beer. I'd say that it is dominating! Nonetheless, this is a great beer if you need to free base some hops to get your fix. Personally, I love it. 

The idea behind this line of beers from SN is really innovative and I really like it. At a time when both hops and shipping costs are through the roof, they went to the other side of the world and brought fresh hops back to Chico.  It really shows a new found commitment to bottling more beers and showing the brewing abilities that made the company so great. If you love hoppy beers, you'll love any of the Harvest Fresh Hop Ales. 

BEER FACTS

Name: Southern Hemisphere Harvest Fresh Hop Ale

Style: India Pale Ale

Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company

Location: Chico, California, USA

Container: 24 oz. bottle

Malts: Two-row Pale & Caramel

Hops: Pacific Hallertau, New Zealand Motueka and New Zealand Southern Cross 

ABV: 6.7%

IBUs: 66

840 IIPA (Stone Coast Brewing Company)

840 is the big brother of Stone Coast's 420 IPA. Its one of very few "extreme" beers here in Maine. A double IPA is rarely seen around these parts. Word on the street is that Stone Coast is going to be brewing a 1260 IPA as well. 

According to the Stone Coast site:

The 840 is "Brewed with 840 ounces, thats 52.5 pounds, a generous amount of these are fresh whole hops during the conditioning stage and after the beer is filtered, creating an amazing balance between the alcoholic warmth and textured body."

The 840 pours a hefty dark, thick amber color. On top is a big, fat, fluffy head. Another one that looks like someone poured pancake batter on top of it. The head settle nicely though and I'm left with about a finger's worth of head that really leaves some nice lacing on the sides of the glass. Not a bad looking pour at all.

Smell is unique. First scent that comes to me is bubblegum but that quickly turns to some citrusy and earthy hops smells.  A little bit of grapefruit and some herbal scents finish things up. This is the first time I've had this in a bottle, the last time I tried it was straight from a vat during a tour of the brewery last summer. I don't really get a lot of those big, fresh intense hop smells like some of the big West Coast dIPAs but I am going in with an open mind (still keeping with my "New Beers Resolution"). 

Lets commence consumption. First thing that hits me is the bitterness that takes over my mouth. Its pretty intense and almost sharp. Once you get over that you can taste some citrus and also some very sweet and syrupy notes. Its note exactly balanced like some bigger IPAs. It falls into the category of one-sided. Its definitely a strong and warming beer and its not altogether a bad brew, its just a little off from the style. 

Maybe its the hop varieties used or maybe the balance? Who knows. I'll be on the look out for the 1260 for no other reason than to say I've drank a triple IPA from here in Maine. If you are looking for a great beer from Stone Coast check out their Jamaican Style Stout!

BEER FACTS

Name: 840 Imperial India Pale Ale

Style: Imperial/Double India Pale Ale

Brewery: Stone Coast Brewing Company

Location: Portland, Maine, USA

Container: 22 oz. bottle

Malts: ?

Hops: ?

ABV: ?

IBUs: ?

Brewed in Maine

Racer 5 (Bear Republic Brewing Co.)

They say that Memorial Day weekend represents the unofficial start of summer. That is definitely true here in Maine! Look around and all you see are out of state plates! I couldn't think of a better beer to kick off my unofficial start to summer than Bear Republic's Racer 5. This is one hell of a great West Coast IPA!

From Bear Republic's site:

"This is a hoppy IPA. Did I say hops? Your brewer is a hop head! This is a full bodied beer using American grains. The goal was to create a base for showing off the unique floral qualities of two Pacific Northwest hops, Columbus and Cascade. Columbus is a new hybrid High Alpha Acid hop used mostly for bittering, but used heavily as an aromatic in this strong brew. Cascade is the balance that ties the malt and bittering hops together. It is a true specialty ale and is our brewer's statement on this style."

That should encourage any hophead to go and seek this one out!

Pours an awe-inspiring shiny golden color. The type that some ancient civilization would probably worship. Its almost bright orange and the head is rich and creamy white. It looks like a pancake ready to be flipped! 

Smell is extremely citrusy. Think lemons and grapefruits, not to mention fresh cascade hops. I love the way those Pacific Northwest hops can transform the smell of a beer from casual to just plain amazing. 

First sip of this beer is tongue numbing. Absolute hop bitterness. Tastes like fresh squeezed grapefruit juice with a cane sugar finish to balance things out. This beer is very refreshing. Its hard not to take big sips of this. I should have bought a second bottle so I could savor the tastes of that one and drank this one in big mouthfuls like the hop pig that I am. Great job Bear Republic!

Since we can't get Bear Republic here in Maine (yet!) go out and find some Smuttynose Big A IPA! Its a great alternative to the Racer 5.

BEER FACTS

Name: Racer 5

Style: India Pale Ale

Brewery: Bear Republic Brewing Company

Location: Healdsburg, California, USA

Container: 22 oz. bottle

Malts: ?

Hops: Columbus & Cascade

ABV: 7%

IBUs: 69

Hoppy Otter (Otter Brewery)

I've wanted to give this beer a try for awhile now. A lot of my interest, I must admit, is in the label. I really love the shot of the otter and the hops. Luke over at BlogAboutBeer brought a bottle of this over to check out. Cheers Luke!

The label reads:

"The purest spring water drawn from the River Otter is used to brew this traditional 19th Century-style IPA with a bit of a twist. Handcrafted with English floor malts and our very own yeast, we have added five of the US Pacific Northwest's most citrus-flavored, aromatic whole cone hops to create a new, complex, highly drinkable beer."

Pours a nice dark golden color with a very thin head. Very subtle carbonation and it settles very quickly.My first impression is that this beer looks very much like a lot of the IPAs I drink from this side of the pond. 

The smell is definitely different than I expected. I figured those Pacific Northwest hops would really come through in the nose. However the smell is sweet and more earthy and spicy. Not the citrusy C-hop smells I was hoping for. Its definitely got a more British IPA smell to it. By that, I mean its not the big fresh hop smell that American IPAs tend to impart. But, the label does say this is a traditional 19-century IPA and not a 21st century "San Diego-style" nuclear hop bomb.

Taste is sweet and rather syrupy. I guess one could say its "cloying". The earthy spiciness is definitely present as is some hop bitterness on the back of my tongue. If you are expecting an IPA that is similar to a hoppy American IPA this is not going to satsify that craving. I don't think its a bad beer and as it warms it definitely has a lot more IPA qualities. I guess I was hoping for something a little different. But hey, its a British IPA and it is likely to fit the traditional style better than most. Also, did I mention that the label is really cool.

Other Otter related breweries:

Otter Creek Brewing Company (Middlebury, Vermont)

Gilded Otter Brewing Company (New Paltz, New York)

BEER FACTS

Name: Hoppy Otter

Style: India Pale Ale

Brewery: Otter Brewery

Location: Honiton, Devon, England

Container: 500 ml bottle

Malts: ?

Hops: ?

ABV: 6.8%

IBUs: ?