Quadruple IPA

IPA Day in Tel Aviv, poster by Big Bear

How did you celebrate World IPA Day? The Secret Agent and I sampled dozens cups of homebrew in Samuel Adams Longshot Finals event that took place in Herzliya Marine. We drank some IPA’s – I think but I cannot remember – and on Friday joined the local beer fans to celebrate Israel’s humble-yet-fun  hoppy party that took place at Porter & Sons in Tel Aviv. I think that every IPA that is commercially available here was poured on Friday. We focused on new locals, Og Ale Kayzi (Og Summer Ale) by Golan Brewery and 2 new HaDubim and overlooked the small selection of imported beer. Friends who mentioned the so-so taste of the Worthington White Shield reminded us of the bottle we bought a couple of months ago, suck in the back of the fridge and pretty much forgot about. Later in the evening, at home, in front of one of the final chapters of Boardwalk Empire Season II we opened it. It poured murky nutty reddish amber with a tan head and bore flowery aroma with hints of honey. Taste was very bitter and sharp so we let it warm a little; beer was in the back of the fridge. After a while drinking became more pleasant. The bitterness remained but fruitiness came along. Medium body, bitter finish and and overall sense of mediocrity. It felt more like PA than IPA.

The following day, still at home, we opened a bottle of Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA. We followed The Actuary’s advice, who said we’d better drink it as fresh as possible. This is a generally good advice, that becomes more acute with IPA’s. Torpedo smelled of tropical fruit and a little like candy and tasted bitter and somewhat dry. Its texture was sleek and the finish was dry and long. A great beer but not something I could drink on a daily basis, had I drank anything except for water and malt beverage on a daily basis. Despite its rather light body and despite drinking only half a bottle, the sensation of 7.2% abv. appeared rather quickly.

another IPA we drank recently was Rouge Imperial India Pale Ale that Midi Bear brought from his travels. It smelled OK but not as awesome as other Rouge brews we have tasted;  butter, candy, honey and ripe fruit and tasted sharp, bitter and alcoholic. OK but not the Greatest Rouge Ever (have you seen their Voodoo Bacon Maple Ale? The bottle and the combination almost made me regret being vegan. Almost).

Those who follow this blog may remember that we already drank Brewdog’s Punk IPA. Drank and loved it. A couple of weeks ago we got to sample a milder, 5.6% version of the beer (as opposed to the original 6%), from a can that The Actuary brought from a city getaway in Amsterdam. Well, as much as I like lighter beers or at least the idea of lighter beer, the reduction did not improve this one. Quite the contrary: bitterness was softer, carbonation was softer, aroma is flowery. I liked the old school version better, but beggars can’t be choosers, right?

White Shield, Torpedo and Imperial IPA are Beers #92, #93 and #94 I Must Try Before I Die.

Old Punks Don’t Die – They Just Smell That Way.

Today we opened our bottle of Best Before December 14th 2011 Brewdog Punk IPA. My fault. The Secret Agent has been campaigning for this beer for months, but because of the 2011 beer mission (see this blog’s About page. There’s a link in the header) Beers that aren’t commercially available in Israel weren’t on top of my list. Working in a full-time job and going to school, my schedule, drinking schedule and otherwise, is not as flexible as self-employed Secret Agent’s and more often than not I have to reject his offer for another beer. There is so much Macroeconomics one can digest after drinking more than one bottle of beer.

I liked Brewdog’s Punk IPA before I drank it and even before I saw the bottles in real-life. How can an old punk with a long-time affection for anything Scottish remain indifferent to Scottish beer called Punk IPA (and Hardcore IPA too, for that matter)?

I liked it just as much after I drank it. Pours cloudy amber with a minimal white head, the beer still reeks of orange and flowers – yes, despite the bottle’s age, the hop is still there! Obviously, this is a very bitter beer. I felt citrus on my tongue as well. However, there’s more to it than just bitterness – it’s got body and substance and we enjoyed it.

So, punk. Scottish punk. An obvious finale’ to this entry would’ve been The Exploited’s Punk’s Not Dead. Screw that. Here’s Ex-Cathedra instead:

10/1001 Beers One Must Try Before One Dies.