IPA DAY 2013

IPA DAY 2013 - Bell's Hop Slam IIPA, Omnipolo Moebius IIPA, Dogfish Head 120 Minute IIPA

IPA DAY 2013 – Bell’s Hop Slam IIPA, Omnipolo Moebius IIPA, Dogfish Head 120 Minute IIPA

I hope everyone had the chance to drink some hoppy and heady beers yesterday for International IPA Day. I managed to make some time for a few tasty beverages throughout the day. I started IPA Day off right with a pint of Hopgasm from 5 Seasons Brewery Prado accompanied by a tasty pulled pork Cuban sandwich with french frys. I love some Hopgasm, it is big and hoppy with just the right amount of bitterness and malt. Yum. I want one right now. I wish the brewpub could sell growlers of that tasty shit… And we’re back.

Later in the evening I sat down with a buddy of mine to check out some bigger IPA’s that I’ve been meaning to drink. We started with the Moebius IIPA by Omnipolo brewery from Sweden. I thoroughly enjoyed this brew. It poured a nice hazy golden color that hinted at a fuller bodied drinking experience. When you smelt the beer your senses were slammed with giant pine and grapefruit aromas. Your nostrils do not lie because this beer beats up your pallet with pine needles and grapefruits. Loads of ’em. The bitterness is right on point too just when you think it might be to much it plateaus but keeps you hanging on the edge. This might have been my favorite of the beer of the evening.

The next beer in the tasting line up was a 2013 Bell’s Hopslam IIPA that has been aging for many months. This big ass IIPA is brewed with honey to off set some of the bitterness. It is a tasty brew but this one had sat around just a little to long. I don’t want to say that the age on this beer made it malt forward but it certainly lost lots of its hoppy appeal. On the nose there was a hint of spicy hop aroma that was dominated by a sweet malty fragrance. Once you dove in there was a muted hop presence as the sweetness from the honey took center stage. All in all it was still a tasty treat but not the hop bomb I was looking for.

The final beer in the IPA Day tasting lineup was a heavy weight. Dogfish Head 120 Minute IIPA is a giant IPA clocking in at 17.5% abv. From start to finish this beer was a battling for your senses. The bouquet slammed your nose three different ways. Super boozy, super hoppy, and super malty. This theme continued throughout the drinking experience as it turned my taste buds up to 11. This thing is a sipper if I have ever seen one. It is hard to say what aspect stands out most about this beer as your palate just gets hit with repeated overwhelming waves of tasty booze, hops, and malty sweetness. Either way it was a monster and I enjoyed it.

I hope you folks had a hoppy IPA Day too!

These Things Grow Fast!

Columbus Hops

Columbus Hops that were panted about a month ago

Less then a month ago these hops were just barely breaking the surface of the soil now they are over a foot long! It is kind of amazing how fast these things take off. I have noticed over 2 inches in growth on some days alone. They are looking good and growing fast, it is about time to get a trellis in place for these to climb on.

Cascade Hops

Cascade Hops

The cascade hops are the biggest of the bunch so far with the Chinook coming in a close second. The Chinook started off slow but has been showing some speedy growth lately.

Chinook Hops

Chinook Hops

I can’t wait till these things turn into monsters this summer and take over my patio with a wall of hops. You can check out the previous pictures of the hops from about a month ago here: http://www.beerdestroyer.com/?p=118

Grow your own!

Cascade Hops

Cascade Hops

The hops are all finally sprouting. I have been growing two of these plants for three seasons now and they luckily keep coming back each year. My hops are grown in containers since I currently have no yard; before winter they are cut down and brought inside to hibernate with out freezing. It still surprises me when they actually show back up each spring. My two older plants are Chinook and Cascade and they grow completely differently. The Chinook is a thicker vined plant with large broad leaves that get as big as my hand and it grows relentlessly. The Cascade plant grows thin delicate vines with small leaves that don’t get much bigger than a couple of inches across. I am interested to see how the new plant Columbus does. In addition to the hops at my place I’ve got a few rhizomes growing up at friends houses in the area. Hopefully I’ll be brewing a fresh hop beer with locally grown hops come fall. I’ll post more pictures as they grow. BTW, you can still find hop rhizomes online for purchase so it is not to late to grow them this year.

Chinook Hops

Chinook Hops

Columbus Hops

Columbus Hops