#280: Maine Beer Company » Lunch (IPA)

Maine Beer Company » Lunch (IPA) | ABV: 7.0% | Rating: 9.2/10

As mentioned a few weeks back, a stop in Buffalo isn't usually without a stop at The Village Beer Merchant, where I snagged this bottle o' Lunch.

This praised brew pours up a hazy amber color with white, fluffy head all emitting a beautiful bouquet of grapefruit alongside soft floral notes, smoothed with a mild sweetness.

Dry, cool, and refreshing, Lunch is a mid-weight IPA with plenty of character. As easy to drink as an all-day variety, but quickly diversifying with a richer with a slight creaminess in the mouthfeel.

Bitter, biting hops hit the palate up front, followed by a quick flip of sweet & smooth flavors, then back a gain with a drying finish. An effortless, well-tuned beer, Lunch blurs stone and pome fruit flavors with bold Warrior, Amarillo, Centennial, and Simcoe bittering characteristics. It's clean with distinct notes of pine appearing further in with pith & rind peaking in here and there, but never getting dank.

Lunch is highly enjoyable, but not as jaw-dropping as its reputation, in my humble opinion. That said, I'll probably pick is up any time I see it and would absolutely recommend to any IPA fan.

#136: Canada Trip » Muskoka Mad Tom IPA, Great Lakes Miami Weiss, Lake Effect IPA, Winter Ale, Junction Conductors

Over the weekend, I trekked up to Ontario, Canada with my band Mouth To Mouth To Mouth for the second time this year. Last time around I had an enjoyable pass through several tastings of Canadian craft beers, but it still felt like I was missing the big flavors brews. Apart from a few moderate stand-outs, most of what I'd run across hung on the English side of drinkable, but shy on flavor.

We rolled up to Toronto on Friday night, in preparation for the fest we were playing on Saturday and were lucky enough to stay with my friends Adam and Miranda of Godstopper, who stayed with me in Ithaca less than a month prior.

During that stay, we partook in Ithaca's Box of Hops and Dogfish Punkin and Captain Lawrence's Pumpkin Ale. Afterwards, they vowed to show me the flavor-rich underbelly of Canadian craft brewing and boy, did they deliver!

Muskoka » Mad Tom IPA | ABV: 6.4% | IBU: 65 | Rating: 8.7
This IPA is on the mild side of bitter. Sweet and bitter grapefruit, smooth body, and soft carbonation makes this one an easy drinker and a great start to the evening. There's a nice touch of citrus pith in the finish as well. A solid IPA.

Great Lakes Brewery » Miami Weiss Wheat Ale (Etobicoke, ON) | ABV: 4.5% | Rating: 9/10
Miami Weiss really took the cake. This aromatic brew starts off with a big nose of passion fruit and smooth, soft hops. Great Lakes took a traditional German style and packed it full of Pacific Northwest hops for a surprisingly unique beer.

Lots of bread and fruit notes alongside firm, drinkable hop pine and resin flavors, presented with a hazy yellow body and nice mouthfeel. An easy high rating on this one.

Great Lakes Brewery » Lake Effect IPA (Etobicoke, ON) ABV: 7.0% | IBU: 70 | Rating:
This second offering from Great Lakes is packed with great, big hops. Fruity grapefruit aromas start things off, followed by a rush of big, bitter hop flavors in the taste. It's dry, with a pleasant tang in the finish.

Clean, crisp mouthfeel backed by grassy hop bitterness. This one never ventures in too fruity, staying on the darker, mature, dry side of IPAs.

Great Lakes Brewery » Winter Ale (Etobicoke, ON) | ABV: 6.2% | Rating:
I'll trust just about any winter warmer from our neighbors to the north. This special brew pours out dark ruby with a touch of white head. Elegant spices of cinnamon, orange peel, and ginger are present, along with a distinct sweetness and a touch of hop heat. It's smooth the whole way through and never succumbs to the overly-velvet or potpourri realm, which plagues many cold-weather offerings.

Junction Craft Brewery » Conductor's Craft Ale | ABV: 5.3% | Rating: 8.9/10
This tall-boy delivers a transparent amber body, topped with white head. Engaging and alluring would probably be my best two words for this one. Using 5 malts and 5 hops, Conductor's is malty and dry, but not particularly hoppy at first. Subtle, restrained hop flavors pass through pine, earth, lemon, toasted, and caramel stages further through the tastings. Mild esters and a touch of rye flavors compliment this compelling beer.

An impressive, well-crafted hybrid Pale.

#135: Founders Brewing Co. » Centennial (IPA)

I need to post more from Founders...

The Brewery: Founders Brewing Co. (Grand Rapids, MI)
The Brew: Centennial (IPA)
Availability: Draft and bottles (Year-Round)
ABV: 7.2% | 65 IBUs
Rating: 9/10
Location: Felicia's Atomic Lounge

The Story? Despite Founders being one of my favorite U.S. breweries, I've only posted about them three times prior. I'm going to remedy that.

If you somehow haven't given their line a try, I'd highly suggest anything they put out. In my book, Founders has one of the best track records for putting out consistently high-quality brews. I've never had a single beer from them that I didn't enjoy or wasn't impressed by.

This one was a pleasant draft surprise stopping into Felecia's last week. '

The Beer? An earthy nose of soft, aromatic hops starts things off for this deep-amber hued brew. The taste starts off minerally, smooth and very drinkable. There's a touch of heat in the hop bitterness as well.

Bitter grapefruit flavors dominate taste, but never become overbearing, and are complimented by citrus pith and slight boozy esters. The bitterness swells on the sides of the tongue a quarter of the way through while the sweet malts begin to creep through. Further on, broader citrus flavors arise with notes of caramel and pepper.

A superb, readily available offering that sounds out amongst the thousands of IPAs.

#130: Cigar City Brewing » Jai Alai (IPA)

Look what found its way up from Florida...

The Brewery: Cigar City Brewing (Tampa, FL)
The Brew: Jai Alai (IPA)
Availability: Cans, Draft, Bottle (year-round)
ABV: 7.5% | IBUs: 70
Rating: 9.5/10
Location: Home

The Story? It's good to have friends in southern places. Since starting this blog over the summer, I've been more apt to express my enthusiasm of beer in public and it's paid off. Back in the fall, a lovely box of Surly cans showed up on my doorstep and just last week, a sixer of Cigar City Brewing's Jai Alai made it's way up from Florida thanks to my friend Ryan. Many thanks!

This is my first taste of Cigar City Brewing, since distribution is extremely limited outside of their home state.

What's behind the name? Jai Alai, a game native to the Basque region of Spain, is played on a court called a fronton. Jai Alai players attempt to catch a ball using a curved mitt whilst the ball travels at speeds up to 188mph. Proving they have a sense of humor the Spanish dubbed this game “the merry game.” Tampa was once home to a bustling Jai Alai fronton, but sadly all that remains of Jai Alai in the Tampa Bay area is this India Pale Ale that Cigar City brew in tribute to the merry game.

The Beer? Jai Alai pours out translucent, almost opaque amber with lots of lacy head and a juicy nose that's full of bright citrus, especially grapefruit, with a slight sweet hint of mango.

Down the hatch, it's nice and wet up front with a full body and plenty of hop-tastic bitterness. Flavors of pine, resin, tropical fruits, and caramel swirl around, leading to a hot hop finish.

I absolutely love how wet this one, being so bitter, and the hot & spicy finish is superb. There's a bit of citrus rind and tropical fruits up front as well that darken slowly into earthier flavors.

A truly wonderful hop experience and highly recommended where you can get your hands on it.

#121: Stone Brewing » R&R Coconut IPA

From the minds of homebrewers Robert Masterson and Ryan Reschan...

The Brewery: Stone Brewing Co. (Escondido, CA)
The Brew:  R&R Coconut IPA
Availability:  Draft, 22 oz bottles (limited, brewed once)
ABV: 7.7%
Rating: 9/10
Location: Home
Found: Fingerlakes Beverage Center

The Story? R&R Coconut IPA the result of a winning recipe at Stone’s AHA-sanctioned Spring 2013 Homebrew Competition. The innovative beer is brewed with 280 pounds of coconut and an unusual blend of hop varieties and is "guaranteed to taste like no IPA that's gone before".  Let's find out!

The Beer? R&R pours out as bubbly, translucent butterscotch with almost no head, even with a firm pour. The nose is sweet and dank with hops, like the coconut has taken the hop wallop and smoothed it over. Notes of magno and citrus are there as well.

The tasted is dense with bitter hops, but there's a crispness in the finish akin to coconut water along with a slight nuttiness and something else... a hint of tea, perhaps, amongst the resin. Additionally, R&R is far more well-carbonated than most Imperial IPAs, which further aids the crispness.

Some posts have lambasted this brew for not having enough coconut flavor. While it's true, you wont think someone accidentally dumped a piña colada in your beer, it doesn't necessarily mean the coconut wasn't effective. When I order good curry, I'm not thinking - "I love ordering curry because I'm in love with coconut milk". No I ordered it because I love curry. I also love IPAs.

The coconut has provided a richness and crispness and seems to bring out some nut, tea, and fruit notes that would otherwise be buried. I couldn't help but continually turn to my glass, stating  "This is really good." The coconut debate will rage on and we may never know exactly what Robert and Ryan were aiming for but, as far as the question - "Is it a good beer and worth it?" - absolutely.

#119: Wagner Valley Brewery » IPA

Local IPA adhering to German purity laws...

The Brewery: Wagner Valley Brewery (Lodi, NY)
The Brew:  IPA
Availability:  Bottles, draft (year-round)
ABV: 6.2%
Rating: 8.5/10
Location: Home

The Story? Wagner Valley Brewery launched in 1997, smack in the middle of wine country out here in Central NY. Wagner is unique in two ways - they've also been a winery since 1978 and their standard series of brews abides by German Purity Law.

Their IPA uses a blend of hops, including East Kent Goldings and Cascade and is dry-hopped with 2.5 lbs. of hops per barrel. Let's dig in.

The Beer? After a gentle pour, this IPA presents a fluffy, lacy off-white head atop of bright, transparent amber body. Dark, earthy, woody hops dominate the nose.

I take a refreshing mouthful back and am rewarded with deep, bitter flavors. Plenty of hops, but also complementary malty and burnt flavors. The hops are robust, dark, and not citrusy. The closest comparison which immediately comes to mind is Bronx Pale. Further through, toasted malt and resin-centric hop flavors take center stage.

Overall a solid, deep IPA with quality and depth. Recommended for all you locavores.