Ale’s Draught Picks: Sierra Nevada’s Hoptimum

Hoptimum earns my top rating: Gangster.

I am loving 2011 when it comes to brewing innovation. It has been a great year so far thanks to the fantastic brews that I have had the pleasure of sipping in January. Already excited about featuring an unprecedented way beer has been served in my lifetime—hot as tea with the saucer and the whole nine thanks to Atlanta’s 5 Seasons (go here)—in the matter of a week, I have lots more to write about. Thank you, brew gods! With that being the case, I am starting a section on my site called “Ale’s Draught Picks” exclusively dedicated to limited edition beers that hit the shelves and taps, but when they’re gone, they’re gone!

Regarding brewing excellence, here is the first Draught Pick you have to snatch up: Sierra Nevada’s Hoptimum.

The Bell’s Hopslam has definitely garnered the most hype year after year in the land of India Pale Ales (can you believe I haven’t tried this year’s edition yet?!), but even when I do, I truly believe Hoptimum deserves the same love, if not more.

God bless the hop!

Already the #2 selling craft brewery in the nation, Sierra has been celebrating its 30th year of brewing excellence in style. The year-round standards like the Pale Ale, Porter, Stout and Torpedo have a solid following, but I love how the seasonals and limited selections have been maintaining this California brewery’s thirst for innovation. Answering the growing demand for more hops, Sierra and their revered “Beer Camp” brewers did just that with the Hoptimum, one of the best IPAs I have had in a long time. It's a whole-cone Imperial IPA at 10.4 percent ABV boasts an astounding 100 IBUs (International Bitterness Units-check out the breakdown of what that means here), but is still well-balanced and quite simply, delicious! I’m talking an amber-orange color; the perfect thickness; the nose of pine, cedar and oranges; mouth-pleasing notes of grapefruit, and even a little honey and caramel; and a subtle, yet potent alcohol presence that warms the soul.

Available in a 24–ounce, robust bomber that’s hooked up with some pretty cool art: a whole hop cone dressed like a distinguished politician from the colonial days crowned with a cool futurist font full of serifs surrounded by a crest of hop vines.

This earns my top rating: Gangster.

Get a bottle. Now.

Here are the specs courtesy of the Sierra Nevada website:
Alcohol Content: 10.4% By Volume Bittering Hops: German Magnum
Beginning Gravity: 22.8 Plato Aroma Hops: Simcoe and New Proprietary Variety
Ending Gravity: 4.5 Plato Dry Hops: Simcoe and New Proprietary Variety
Bitterness Units: 100 Torpedo Hops: Citra and Chinook
Yeast: Ale Malts: Two-Row Pale, Golden Promise, Munich and Wheat

Happy IPA Day...err...year!

What IPA are you sippin' on?

What up, Brew Crew!


I'm a hophead so it's year-round for me, but today is officially National I.P.A. Day! I trust everyone knows that IPA stands for India Pale Ales, the most hoppy in the business and for good reason. The history goes back to the extra hopping of brews during long boat trips by particularly the British during the days of colonization and trade in the 1800s. Of course, the U.S. took things to the next level and made the hopping extreme!

Well, I, along with thousands of hopheads around the country and abroad, are toasting off to the plethora of hop varieties today (and every day), but today is something special! My choice brew this evening is Sierra Nevada's Hoptimum. At 10.4 percent ABV, and 100 International Bitterness Units (Trust me, that's gangster!) due to the whole-cone love from the Left Coast, it's so damn good I had to get the hat and t-shirt directly from the brewery when I participated in Beer Camp #80! There are a ton more out there and will be meeting with Ale Atlanta in a few minutes to taste more, but I would love to hear what your favorite IPA is. Let me know below! Also, be sure to look up spots that are having special IPA deals. There has to be a cool beer bar near you!

So cheers to you and everyone who has the open mind to embrace one of the four horsemen when it comes to making beer, HOPS!!!

Cheers!
Ale

What the hell are IBUs?



 More Hop for the Hip!

To let hop heads like myself, aspiring experts and, uh, crybabies know how bitter the brew is, the International Bitterness Units scale is the official form of measurement. Hops are one of what I term "The Funky Four" in brew, so for special styles like India Pale Ales, the brewmasters add extra hops to kick up the bitterness and enhance the aroma that can favor grapefruit, pine and cedar.


Stone's Ruination claims 100+ IBUs! Gangster!

 So what's the breakdown? To make everything relative, the wimpy light beers that dominate the States are as low as 5 IBUs, English Bitters hit the 30 mark; stouts typically range between the 30s and 50s (unless they are imperial); American IPAs start around 60; and Barley Wines and double IPAs peak 100 IBUs (like Sierra Nevada’s Bigfoot and Hoptimum, Stone’s Ruination), pushing the absolute limit of some serious bitter lovin.’ But keep in mind, you can add a mothership's load of hops, but if the taste isn’t balanced with some maltiness and other flavors, you don’t have jack!

By the way, there is one brew that hits 13 percent ABV and an outrageous 200 IBUs: Founders' Devil Dancer Triple IPA. I had it and man, it was quite an experience to say the least. Founders is one of my favorite breweries and I'd definitely do it again. Since it is so crazily complex, I am going to let them describe this one directly from their home base of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Founders says:

"Founders most complex, most innovative, most feared and yet most revered ale produced. Massive in complexity the huge malt character balances the insane amount of alpha’s used to create this monster. More IBU’s than any brewery has documented, more than you would believe and dry-hopped for twenty-six days straight with a combination of 10 hop varieties. Dangerously drinkable and deliciously evil. We dare you to dance with the Devil."

200 IBUs??? Now that's some serious hoppin'!

Red Brick's Vanilla Gorilla Porter: Gangster!

I haven't given out a "Gangster" rating since the Sierra Nevada Hoptimum. It's time for another one. 

I will make this plain and simple: Get this brew that comes out today. It is the best porter I have ever had.

Bob Townsend chillin'
at Deckard's

This is the Brick Mason Vanilla Gorilla Porter by local brewery Red Brick (Atlanta Brewing Company). I had the initial version on tap but once it was bottled and chilled out for a minute, the subtle hickory notes coming from the smoked Madagascar vanilla beans hooked up by local BBQ spot Fox Bros., smoothed out with chocolaty goodness all aged in Jack Daniels whiskey oak barrels for six months resulted in one fantastic concoction of deliciousness at 7.8% abv.

Excited about the latest edition of the popular and potent Brick Mason Series (the third after their Double IPA and 16th Anniversary), I had the chance to get a  preview bottle of the Vanilla Gorilla over the weekend thanks to my main man Richard over there and I needed time to just come back down from my high. Plus, with all of the Oktoberfest activities going on including swinging times at both Der Biergarten and Deckard's (thanks for the hospitality homies!), along with kicking it with fellow beer writer Bob Townsend, I wanted to save the praises for this fantastic porter upon the day of its release. See, usually I skip this style and go straight to the typically more thicker, aggressive stouts, but this porter brought me back. Call around, find out where the hell it is and scoop up a four-pack. You did ATL proud RB. Well done!

Drinking from der boot @ Der Biergarten 

And if you disagree, I will happily take the remaining three off your hands for free. I doubt this will be the case though.

Enjoy!

Your homey,
Ale

It's Craft Beer Week!!!

Where are you sippin'?

Well we are deep into the week of all weeks when it comes to getting your quality beer sippin' on, American Craft Beer Week, which started on May 14 and “ends” this Sunday. (The quotes are for me especially because every week should be a celebration!) 

Anyway, since 2008, even Congress made this the official week for us craft ale and lager hoisters to enjoy the greatest beverage in the world. Particularly in the U.S., craft breweries (also called microbreweries) are kickin’ some serious ass lately because so many more minds are opening up to the suds that are a lot more inventive, experimental, enlightening, and quite frankly, damn effin’ good! Look how craft breweries—who brew less than six million barrels a year, are independently owned, and basically keep it real with the brewing techniques, community awareness, and inventiveness—have been blowing up, courtesy of the Brewers Association:

Anyway, this week has been a blast so far in Atlanta (thanks Square Pub, SOHO, Cypress Street Pint and Plate, and especially The Porter for hosting the next episode of my show, Cruisin’ For A Brewsin’!), but I am sure there are some awesome events going on throughout the U.S. For example, my longtime friend Cameron aka Craft B Cam, a fellow Shaker Heights High School alumnus (go Red Raiders!) who went to this hoppin’ event at a spot I can’t wait to feature called 101 Beers On TheWall in Kent, Ohio, called Hopocolypse. This is right up my alley since they featured two of my favorite India Pale Ales—Sierra Nevada’s Hoptimum, Bell’s Hopslam, and one I never tried (figure that!) by the gangster brewery out of San Diego County, Green Flash, called the Palate Wrecker aka Hamilton’s Ale at an astounding 149 InternationalBittering Units. Anywho, here’s the cool poster they used:

So do yourself a favor: Visit this link courtesy of the Brewers Association for a few of the hundreds of participants nationwide since all 50 states are doing something beer-related (research for more), flock to the nearest one, get your sip on, and continue supporting the craft beer movement! I am planning on hitting up the aforementioned Atlanta speezots, plus the BrickStore, The Fred, Five Seasons, Smith’s Olde Bar (to check out my boy from the UK, Lee MacDougall), the East Atlanta Beer Festival on Saturday, and a few of other spots if possible. For more details, my main man Reid posted some info on his Beer StreetJournal site, too, including tap takeovers. What about you? Let me know where you are heading!

So when it comes to craft beer, Fight the Power!!!!

Much pub love!

Ale

P.S.

Not to be a buzzkill or anything, but make sure you toast to the Queen of Disco, Donna Summer, who just passed. I guess God needed another angel. 

Top beer photo courtesy of http://blog.georgetownvoice.com. 

It's National IPA Day and here are some faves!

I took this during my visit to the Sierra Nevada brewery in
Chico, CA. God bless these things!

Let's bop to hip HOPS!

It's time to celebrate arguably the most popular beer style in the U.S., which is ironically called India Pale Ale, because it's IPA Day! 

Now anyone can brew an IPA, but the best are the ones that are aggressively bitter on the palate, and extremely fragrant with aromas ranging from piney to grapefruit, but most importantly BALANCED with the maltiness. In fact, I personally think IPAs can often serve as an effective measuring tool to reflect how good a brewery is. They are that gangster! 

To help you find the perfect IPA, I have done extensive, ummm... research and have a few for you to certainly try because, frankly, I love ‘em. Anyway, here are some musts you need to have in your shopping cart or bar tab sooner or later. There are so many others I could list from breweries like Three Floyds, Russian River, Bear Republic, Cigar City, and Ballast Point to name a few, but I took it easy on ya and listed some varieties that are fairly easy to grab today in particularly Atlanta in stores like Green's, Hop City, Tower, and Ale Yeah! (with a few you might have to hit up eBay for) that are in no particular order. Hop to it!

Sierra Nevada Hoptimum

A keeper from their revered Beer Camp Series I was blessed to take part in, get this astounding IPA now!

Stone Enjoy By...

The series

Hard as hell to find, but still one of the best ever. I first had it at Cook Hall on tap and have been craving for the monthly release ever since!

Founders Double Trouble

One of the best breweries in the nation makes one of the best IPAs. The artwork is pretty sick too!

Dogfish Head 90 Minute

Just a bit maltier and stronger than the 60 Minute, and still damn good!

Green Flash Palate Wrecker

G.F. is no joke when it comes to hops and are all slammin', but this one is my fave!

Terrapin Hopzilla

Athens, GA represent! I brought this one to Thailand (see here) and showed them how we brew in the southern U.S. This one's a monster!

Bell's Two Hearted

This one is eternally gangster and very easy to get...thank goodness.

Lagunitas Sonoma Farmhouse Hop Stoopid

One of the best bomber deals on the shelf and frankly, one of the best, period.

Oskar Blues Deviant Dale's

I had to get a can in there, and this Oskar Blues beast is perfectly named.

Enjoy these fantastic IPAs, but know there are many more that I didn't list because, well, I'm tired as hell! 

Happy IPA Day!

Ale

ZYMURGY Magazine lists AHA's 2013 'Best Commercial Beers In America'!

Russian River's Pliny the Elder does it again!

 And I added a few others to spice things up!

I hope you had an awesome weekend! I was honestly non-stop thanks to all of the beer-oriented events I took part of since Friday night including celebrating the Wrecking Bar’s anniversary (congrats Bob and Sandstorm!), the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest I judged on Saturday, and my boy Lee Dickson’s going away party at the Brick Store (you got an awesome rep, Boulevard!). 

Now with a lot of detoxing happening, I was just sent this press release on announcing that the American Homebrewers Association’s has selected their 11^th list of what they consider the 10 “Best Commercial Beer in America” in the U.S. courtesy of Zymurgy Magazine. Staying consistent with past winners, brewing a stellar hoppy brew (especially Indian pale ales) is the best bet for nomination and Russian River’s Pliny the Elder once again gets top honors for its fifth year. Whoa! 

“The homebrewers that make up the membership of the AHA are amongst the most discerning craft beer drinkers in the country,” said Gary Glass, director of the AHA. “For a brewery to be recognized as making the best beer in American by this group is a high honor indeed.”

Now overall, these cats in the AHA know what they’re talking about and I have no problem with their selections, but I would also add a few to the list including: Sierra Nevada Hoptimum, Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, Green Flash Palate Wrecker, Mother Earth Silent Night, Stone Enjoy By… series, Epic Big Bad Baptist, North Coast Old Rasputin, and Westbrook Mexican Cake to name a few. Keeping it in North America, Unibroue’s consistent La Fin Du Monde is no joke either!

Feel free to send me your top 10 in the comment section. There is no wrong answer! Anyway, here are the brews that were selected by the AHA, plus some other winning nominations in other categories.

The top-ranked beers include:

1. Russian River Pliny the Elder

2. Bell’s Two Hearted Ale

3. Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA

4. Bell’s Hopslam Ale

5. Ballast Point Sculpin IPA

6. Founders Breakfast Stout     

7. Stone Brewing Co. Arrogant Bastard Ale        

8. Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye IPA        

T9. Lagunitas Sucks     

T9. Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale         

T9. Stone Brewing Co. Ruination IPA

(T indicates tie)

Top 3 Breweries

The top breweries out of more than 1,100 locations were also shown some love. Stone was the top-ranked brewery boasting five brews in the top 50, followed by Russian River (who also had 5), and Sierra Nevada with the bronze (four making the list). Since this trio is from Cali, I’m throwing up a manual “W” in salute.

And last but not least, the Best Portfolio of Beers was awarded to the Boston Beer Company aka Samuel Adams, who had 40 beers receive votes in the poll. The top 5 award winners are below.

1. The Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams)  

2. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery  

3. Avery Brewing Co.    

4. Cigar City Brewing    

5. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.    

Oh yeah, AHA also noted, “As was the case in 2012, no beers produced by breweries outside of the U.S. made the top 50. The two top vote-getters among foreign breweries both hailed from Belgium—Orval and Saison Dupont tied for first place.”

Let me know who you think got shafted. Regardless, props go to all the winners. Keep brewing with excellence!

Cheers!

Ale