IPAs — Flyers vs. Lazy Boy Brewing

Flyers Afterburner
India Pale Ale
ABV 6.5%

Color: Bright pumpkin orange.
Aroma: Hoppy, meaty, burnt toffee.
Flavor: Full body, sweet, yet also somehow savory.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy
Finish: Intense, long-lasting harsh bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Mediocre

Lazy Boy Brewing IPA
ABV 6.2%

Color: Dark reddish orange.
Aroma: Citrus hoppy.
Flavor: Thin body, clean and citrusy.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy
Finish: Late arriving moderate bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Mediocre

Blow by Blow
As is often the case with IPAs, it all comes down to balance. You can drown the thing in hops, but if you don't have the malts to balance out the flavor your beer is not going to be very good. Unfortunately, both of these beers fell short in the balance department.

The Afterburner was huge. As a matter of fact, it was so dense with hops and malts that we probably would have guessed it was a double IPA. In the end, the hops overwhelmed everything and left you with a super harsh bitterness that was tolerable but not necessarily pleasant. The Lazy Boy had different issues. It started off pretty decent with a nice citrusy aroma, but fell flat in the flavor with a very thin body that came across as a bit watery.

So the fight was sloppy. Neither combatant brought his A game and they both just sort of danced around until they got tired. It ended up being a split decision with Ellen not really caring for either but choosing the Afterburner because it had a richer body and me choosing the Lazy Boy because it seemed far less extreme and closer to being in balance.

But this time we were not the final word. We had the pleasure of having two distinguished guest tasters for this battle! Colin & Bekky stopped by and after trying both of the beers blind they both agreed that neither were especially good but the Lazy Boy was better.

We ended up rating them both Mediocre because they are definitely passable if you don't have any other options, but you might want to look elsewhere if you're in search of the holy ale.

Winner by majority decision: Lazy Boy.