Word Association

Easter

Bunny

Hops

mmmm...beer


Again I need to apologize for not being a very good beer blogger. In my defense, I’ve been really busy with my regular 9-5 (which is really more like 8-6) and I’ve picked up a freelance writing gig that actually requires my skills as a beer consuming expert. So there.

Anyway, I’ve not shirked my responsibilities as a beer drinker and I’m happy to report that I have three excellent beers to tell you about. Two of them are probably going to be hard to come by unless you have a keen beer buyer who is aware of Southern Tier Brewing Company. I know I tend to give STBC a lot of credit but trust me, it is well deserved.

Southern Tier seems to have drawn some inspiration from Dogfish Head and spends a lot of time crafting assertive recipes for its Imperial Series. One of them is called Iniquity. This is an Imperial Pale Ale that happens to be black in color. Thus the name Iniquity. This beer doesn’t play by the rules. Pale Ales by definition aren’t supposed to be exceptionally dark but craft brewers do not play by rules.

Of course Southern Tier didn’t just tinker with naming conventions and slap an IPA badge on a stout. This beer has a lot of the characteristics you’d expect from a double IPA. It’s not as viscous as a stout and certainly not as sweet. The beer has the citrus notes you’d expect from what has become the classic representation of an Imperial IPA hopped with the normal areas of Pacific Northwest hops. By nature, an imperial beer is double the strength of its standard counterparts but in spite of its bombastic appearance, Iniquity is surprisingly drinkable, which is a word I hate to use because all beers are drinkable, but you really expect this beer to be one that you enjoy in small quantities. It’s not hard to go through a couple of pints of this one.

Southern Tier’s other offering of note, one that has been making its rounds for a while now, is called Unearthly. It’s another Imperial Pale Ale but this one is traditionally hued with rich amber tones. It’s aggressively hopped, more so than Iniquity, and even brings more ABV to the party weighing in at 11% to Iniquity’s 9%. This beer smells like a pined forest after a rain storm and tastes like it too. In a good way, provided you enjoy hops. If you have to compare it to other beers, think Stone Ruination or possibly Dogfishead 120 Minute IPA, but don’t make the mistake of thinking that it’s just a facsimile. Unearthly might draw inspiration from other beers but it’s definitely impressive enough to stand on its own.

The third beer I enjoyed this past weekend might be distributed just a bit more readily than Southern Tier’s offerings. Lagunitas Brewing Company dabbled in a little chemistry and perfected a couple of hop extracts that they packed into an crystal clear amber ale that might prove to be one of the most unique offerings on the market this year.

Hop extracts are commonly used by bigger brewing companies to cut costs and minimize the possibility of their watery fizz bombs being cloudy. Normally craft brewers don’t lose a lot of sleep over such things because craft beer lovers know that trading flavor for clarity is a cardinal sin.

Well, Lagunitas managed to do both. What took me by surprise was how this light this beer is compared to the vivaciousness of the hops. Popping open the bottle was like setting off a hops bomb and pouring the beer brought back memories of First Blood where Rambo dives into the pine trees. Looking at the beer I was worried that it was going to taste like somebody brewed up hop tea, which is something I’ve tried and can honestly say I did not like. Hops aren’t so good when they’re unescorted. You need that malt to balance it.

Apparently Hop Stoopid was engineered to deliver more in the aroma department than you actually get when you drink the beer. Oh, it’s still hoppy, but not so much so that you feel overwhelmed. The beer was balanced really nicely and I enjoyed every sip. I was actually sad that I only bought one 22 ounce bottle, but I had a sampler of Flying Dog on hand to ease my misery.

Hop Stoopid wasn’t my favorite beer of all time. I still prefer a nice, filthy ale complete with suspended yeast and grain solids that settle to the bottom of the bottle leaving behind a gooey film. It sounds gross, but great beer is not for the squeamish. Still, I see more Hop Stoopid coming to a campsite near you. I have a feeling that it could be my favorite beer after a long hike on a hot day.