Even some of the most seasoned beer drinkers are turned off by an India Pale Ale. They can be bitter and intense and just a bit too strong for even the most adventurous of palates. Now, as NYC Beer Week kicks off, The Wall Street Journal has compiled a list of some IPA’s that will be easier to enjoy.
As the WSJ explains, beer is made of four ingredients: water, grain, yeast and hops. Some styles are defined by how they balance those components—an Irish stout’s mix, say, of mineral-rich water, tannic yeast and darkly roasted grain. Others showcase one player in particular. In a Belgian dubbel, it’s a deep, fruity yeast. In IPAs, it’s hops.
Below are the publication’s recommendation for some interesting, flavorful and delicious IPAs for drinkers who generally dislike them:
1. Great Lakes Chillwave Double IPA (9.4% ABV): Hop-of-the-moment Mosaic bursts through this beer like a splash of mango nectar. It comes on like fruit soda but finishes with an IPA’s bracing bitter kick.
2. Widmer Brothers Old Embalmer (10.2% ABV): Oregon’s Widmer has a long relationship with Yakima Valley hops growers, and often gets first dibs on experimental strains like John Haas’s X-431, featured in this barley wine. The beer is strong, and its caramel sweetness complements the hops’ notes of blood orange and grapefruit rind.
3. Tallgrass 8-Bit (5.2% ABV): Like a sweet-sour mojito, 8-Bit blossoms rich and juicy—pineapple and cactus fruit—but drifts off with a menthol-ish tickle into a cooling finish. Hot and cold, deep and bright, springtime in the desert.
4. New Belgium Rampant (8.5% ABV): A brash name for a bright and bubbly beer. Mosaic and Calypso hops provide fruity flavor—peach, pear, pluot, strawberry—but classically American-accented Centennials provides a tempering zest of candied lemon peel.
5. Samuel Adams Double Agent IPL (5.0% ABV): This “imperial lager” gets its juiciness from New Zealand-grown Nelson Sauvins hops. Named for Sauvignon Blanc and the star of the burgeoning Kiwi hops industry, this strain mimics the gooseberry fruit and sweet finish of cool-climate white wines.
*featured image courtesy BeerSnobChick
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