Flying Dog Raging Bitch Belgian IPA

With my final IPA for the day, it's Flying Dog Raging Bitch Belgian IPA.

I'm curious what will make this Belgian, but the look is similar to the other two from earlier in the evening, though the color is a bit more light orange and the head is both bigger and sticking around longer.

The smell is both hoppy and yeasty. Lots of orange and coriander before the hops come in. Not a ton of malt here. But a very bitter finish. Outstanding lacing. I'm getting more Belgian than IPA, but I like this. I believe I'm a fan of these kind of hybrids in general.

Overall, a pretty tasty brew, and it's nice to see some innovation in the style.

Grade: B

P.S. I have only been listening to songs with Bitch in the title while writing this. Let's dig on some Stones together, shall we?

Great Divide Hercules Double IPA

The IPA Day celebration continues with Great Divide's Hercules Double IPA.

A nice start with a hazy bronze color and big fluffy white head. Smells like piney hops and a bit of wood. Big round malt flavor followed by a hit of hops. Extremely well balanced. Long and intensely bitter finish. Very creamy texture and a lot of the hop hit comes in the finish rather than while you first drink it. Noticing quite a bit of orange in this brew.

I like it. Good balance not only between malt and hops, but among the different hops, too. Fantastic mouthfeel, as well.

Grade: A

Dogfishead 90 Minute IPA

Happy IPA Day! Going to start today's celebration with the ubiquitous Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA.

I really like the light brown color with an inviting haze. Lots of citrusy hops in the nose. Starts off with a lot of sweet caramel followed by a big hop punch. The hops are there, don't worry about that, but they aren't blowing out everything else like I expected.

This is my kind of IPA. Huge hop notes, big bitter finish, but it's got some malt to go along with it. It's not like you're drinking hop juice (which I haven't been able to get my hands on yet.) The 9% ABV warms on the way down, but doesn't have much presence other than that.

Big fan of this one!

Grade: A

Great Divide Rumble IPA

Oak? IPA? Great Divide? Yes, please! Lots of promise with Great Divide's Rumble Oak Aged IPA.

The color from the wood aging shows through and the nose is full of hops. A hint of sweet malt followed by very pungent hops and some lingering vanilla and caramel. This is no timid beer. The hops are more prevalent than the oak for sure, but this is great for hop heads looking for a bit of a change. Quite bitter, and a nice 7.1% ABV.

Grade: B

Victory Hop Wallop

An IPA called Hop Wallop better bring it. Victory's IPA offers a gorgeous hazy gold color and sticky white head. Lots of citrus in the smell. Tons of fresh citrusy hops complemented by lots of piney hops. And so bitter don't be surprised if you pucker! Not much of a malt flavor here at all, but wow does that dry hop bite linger. Very subtle buttered toast, too. Interesting.

I'm actually surprised how quickly I got through this, especially at 8.5% ABV and with this much punch! It's certainly aptly named. Hop heads, enjoy! If you want a beer to slap you with hops, you've found it.

Grade: B

North Peak Vicious Wheat IPA

A brewery new to distributing in Ohio, this is Traverse City, Michigan's North Peak Brewing. Pretty interesting article here on their venture to Ohio. By the way, don't let the searches fool you, the website you want is northpeakbeer.com But this is a brew pub that is now distributing rather than a more traditional brewery.

Their Vicious is an American Wheat IPA. The cloudy pour lets you know it's unfiltered, as well. Lots of citrus in the nose with a bit of banana. There's an interesting sensation I'm trying to figure out how to describe. It's got the aftertaste of a huge IPA, but that giant hop bite wasn't in the initial taste. But lots of hops in the very bitter finish. Quite a bit of orange and banana up front. Very smooth, crisp, and light. Leans more toward an IPA than a wheat.

It's very interesting and definitely worth giving a try. I'm curious to see what else this newly available brewery has to offer.

Grade: B

The Brew Kettle 4 C's Pale Ale

The Brew Kettle is in not that far away from me Strongsville, Ohio. Certainly overshadowed by Great Lakes here, they do make some fantastic beers. Tunguska is a personal favorite. Along with their house brews, the tap list is phenomenal and the food is amazing. I highly recommend the chili! On top of all that, they also have brew on premise for both beer and wine. It's like homebrewing, but they guide you through everything. Really cool stuff.

However, this is about the beer, and one of their signatures, the 4 C's Pale Ale.

The pine of the chinook hops are present the second you open the bottle. Columbus, cascade, and centennial round out the rest of the C hops. Clever, but is it good? Indeed! Very well balanced IPA. Neither huge in IBUs or ABV, but it has a lot of character. Starts with malt and some fruit. Hops are mainly in the end and finish. Some lemon in there, too, but it's not really sour.

Overall, it's another one of those "tamer" IPAs. If you want more in an IPA than hop numbness, give this one a shot!

If you get the chance to get to The Brew Kettle, you really should. They make great beer, they serve great beer that others make, the food is awesome, the atmosphere is great.

Grade: A

Great Lakes Commodore Perry IPA

While retrotagging all my previous reviews (so now when you click on Great Lakes in the tags below, it'll bring up all the beers I have reviewed from Great Lakes), I noticed my IPA reviews were quite thin. Here's an attempt to rectify that with Great Lakes Commodore Perry IPA. Hazy orange with hops and fruit in the nose. The first thing I notice in the taste is some malt but the hops certainly make their entrance known with a fruity finish. The aftertaste is lingering bitterness and peach. Pretty dry, too. Hops are pretty big, but not so much as to make it undrinkable. I've had more aggressive and less aggressive IPAs. I like that there is some complexity other than a hop bludgeoning and nothing else. True IPA freaks may not like this as much as I do, but I think it's quite nice. Not a huge ABV at 6%, but it'll get you where you want to be for sure!

And who is Commodore Perry, you ask? A War of 1812 naval hero who utter the famous phrase "Don't give up the ship!" Or as Great Lakes has tweaked it, "Don't give up the sip!"


Grade: B

Bell's Hopslam

I have a confession. I don't consider myself a "hop head". I mean, I do love craft beer. And I do like IPAs, but I kinda have to be in the mood for them. That said, with all the buzz around Bell's Hopslam, there was no way I couldn't try this beer.

Bell's Hopslam has a huge, white head, but the color was paler than I had expected. The hop aromas hit me as soon as I opened the bottle. The aroma is chock full of the familiar hoppy flavors of grapefruit and pine. The flavor is very interesting. The hops are definitely there, and huge, but the addition to honey adds a sweet finish. It's dry, the hops linger longer than the honey, and you won't find better lacing.

Bell's Hopslam does have a ton of hops, but I wouldn't say it's as overpowering as I expected. Despite the 10% ABV, that isn't overpowering, either. Considering how much is going on, it's amazingly well balanced.

I get the hype. This is awesome!

Grade: A+