Type: Double/Imperial IPA
Origin: Brooklyn, NY
Price: ?
ABV: 9.1%
NSP: ?
website
Had this one brought to me in a fairly absurd package of beers meticulously Tetrised into two suitcases by some friends from out-of-town, along with a whole slew of Wisconsin beers that you'll be reading about over the next however-long-it-takes (Cheers, Kyle and Sarah!). Call it a Wisconsin Beer Plow. Why am I always the one doing Beer Plows? Bunch of slackers around here. And by a bunch I mean everyfuckingone but Andy. But I digress- this one's from Brooklyn, so it's not really part of the Plow anyway.
Brilliant packaging here- even without the oversized Red Bull can, the label would standout on the shelf. Right when you pour it you can tell it's going to be a meaty bastard, lots of color and a potent hop waft that billows out of the glass. It's got a apple-y sweet smell that seems common to a lot of the IPAs I'm having lately, and it actually manages to Rock-'Em-Sock'-Em the 103 IBUs without getting its head popped off. In the back, there's a touch of astringency, but that's not really unexpected given the ABV.
It the word chewy can be applied to a beverage, it'd be perfect for this beer, because it's the beer version of gnawing on a deep-fried turkey leg. Just a powerful, thick, syrupy beer- but thankfully hop syrup, not that over-the-top sweet malt syrup common to a lot of (shitty) DIPAs. These guys have nicely sidestepped the sweetness (despite the apple-y smell) and put together a pretty dry beer that lets the hops go on a rampage. But unfortunately, the rampage isn't particularly complex- it's mainly just bitter.
This is an interesting beer because it seems to tread the line between West Coast and English IPAs (though Andy might say piss on that distinction)- it's malted West Coastily (nice and dry), but hopped Englishly (heavy and bitter). Wouldn't stand much of a chance in a heavyweight DIPA blind tasting, but nonetheless worth a quaff. Between Sixpoint and Brooklyn, there seems to be some pretty good local shit for the residents of NYC's largest borough to work on.
You will now be known as Mr. Plow.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b-wcCiyWyE