beernesday

tasting vancouver wants to know what your favourite local(ish) ipa is! so far their list is: Red Racer IPA (getting lots of love) Driftwood Fat Tug IPA Russell IP’EH Dogfish Head IPA 60 Double Daddy Imperial Driftwood Sartori Harvest IPA Elysian Jasmine IPA Tree Brewing Hop Head Dead Frog Citra IPA Stone IPA Ninkansi Total Domination Howe Sound’s Devil’s Elbow West Coast Green Flash Deschutes Inversion DF 90min IPA Hopsickle Elysian Immortal Bridgeport’s Hop Czar Hale’s Ales Moosehead and i'm happy to say i've had almost all of the above but there's the total eclipse of the hops? the hop circle? the hop henge? the unearthly?

yet more tasting notes from the last beernesday at st. augustine's... this time its all the bottles that we tried! and between three of us, we tried quite a few: elysian brewing co. avatar jasmine ipa:  6.3%  has a very floral nose while the taste is an elegant balance allowing the subtle flavor of jasmine to prevail through essential hoppiness. southern tier unearthly imperial ipa:  10%  vigorously hopped high abv beer that is still eminently drinkable. kiuchi brewery hitachino nest real ginger ale:  7%  a dose of fresh ginger root added to the brew kettle creates an intriguing mix of ginger, malt-sweetness, and citrus-like aromas. flying dog classic pale ale:  5.5%  brilliant amber in color and dry hopped for an unrivaled hop flavor. jasmine ipa:  good head, clear, floral, light hops, pale, malty yet still crispy and hoppy.  big floral nose.  delicious at first, almost too sweet as i get further down the glass.  pe...

ah the Southern Tier Unearthly 'tis one of my favourites - and offers "an uninhibited infusion of hops" which is good - i like hops! i'm not sure if its the 11%, the 23 degrees plato, the red wheat or the triple hopping with chinook & cascade hops in the kettle, styrian golding hops back, topped with cascade, centenial and chinook dry hops that makes it so darned tasty, but whatever it is, i'm quite the big fan!  (and don't tell anyone, but i like to put on my best jersey accent when i say that its from new york, not that i know whether lakewood is anywhere near jersey or not - why let trifles like that stand in the way of an accent opportunity?) this is a beer that i can have just one 650 mL bottle of over the course of an evening and feel perfectly satisfied on any old night, or require several rounds of to quench my hops hunger some other random night, but guaranteed i'll be a hoppy camper either way it turns out!  one night it will just be ea...