IPAs — 10 Barrel Hop Project

10 Barrel Batch #2

India Pale Ale
ABV 6.8%

10 Barrel Batch #37

Brown India Pale Ale
ABV 6.95%

10 Barrel Batch #91
Black India Pale Ale
ABV 7.3%

10 Barrel Batch #136
Wheat India Pale Ale
ABV 6.5% 

10 Barrel is really doing well catering to beer geeks like us. When I saw four of these generic looking bottles at my local bottle shop they certainly caught my eye. Upon further inspection I discovered that they were all part of the 10 Barrel Hop Project. They are normally sold in a mixed case and each one is a different style of IPA. It's a Hophead's dream and a great excuse to do a Bottle Battle.

All were tasted blind as usual.

Beer #1 (Batch #136, Wheat IPA): Golden yellow with very pungent floral/citrus hops. Flavor was very clean (bordering on cleaning solution) with tons of sweet citrus. The finish was surprisingly bitter — more than we were expecting.

Beer #2 (Batch #2, IPA): Hazy orange/yellow. More malty than #1 with piny hop notes. Flavor was heavy on the sweet malts with some fruitiness and the finish had a moderate citrus rind bitterness.

Beer #3 (Batch #37, Brown IPA): Reddish brown with lots of honey maltiness in the aroma as well as some pine and citrus. Flavor was fruity, floral and sweet like a dark honey. The finish was also quite bitter, once again more than we usually prefer.

Beer #4 (Batch #91, Black IPA): Pitch black with chocolate and coffee up front and some pine in the background. Tasted of cola, coffee and smoke. Finished smoky as well with a burnt coffee grounds bitterness.

Tasting blind wasn't really necessary as the colors pretty much gave them away. We both eliminated the Wheat IPA (Batch #136) as it had a bit of that chemical/cleaning solution quality that we both dislike. We also eliminated the Black IPA (Batch #91) because we felt the hops took too much of a backseat to the roasty chocolate malts. So it came down to the Brown IPA (Batch #37) vs. the regular IPA (Batch #2, rumored to be a ramped up version of their Apocalypse IPA).

Ellen ended up choosing the Brown IPA for it's excellent balance of sweet honey malts and piny hops. I went with the regular IPA because the more I drank it the more I wished I had another which is surely one of the best signs of a great beer.

Extra credit: Did we learn anything about hops from the Hop Project? Yes. All of the beers list the hops that were used in the kettle (during the boil, used to impart bitterness) and for dry hopping (hops added during or after the fermentation process, used to enhance the aroma). It was fun to see which hops we prefer for bittering as opposed to aroma. If you, like us, are interested in what qualities specific hop varieties add to your beer you are most certainly a beer geek. Embrace it.   

Split decision: Ellen chose the Brown IPA (Batch #37), I chose the regular IPA (Batch #2)

Imperial IPAs — Double Mountain vs. Midnight Sun

Double Mountain
Molten Lava Imperial IPA
ABV 9%

Midnight Sun
Obliteration IX Double IPA

ABV 8%

We got both of these while roaming the isles at the epic beer emporium in Portland, John's Marketplace. If you like beer and you're in SW Portland you need to go there. Just sayin'. Midnight Sun is from Anchorage, Alaska and Double Mountain is from Hood River, Oregon. We battled them blind as usual.

Beer #1 (Midnight Sun) was a hazy brownish orange with lots of piny hops and honey malts on the nose. The flavor was a mix of brown sugar and piny hop notes. The finish was mild and grassy with a mellow bitterness.

Beer #2 (Double Mountain) was hazy and golden with a big white head. The aroma was dominated by floral and citrus hops with a slight funkiness as well. The flavor was a nice balance of sweet and citrus and the finish was also citrusy with a mellow bitterness. 

This was a tough one. Usually with Imperial IPAs one of the two bottles just doesn't appeal to us. These two bottles, however, were in tune with our taste buds. They both showed exceptional balance which is not easy to do with this style of beer. We've had many Imperial IPAs that were either syrupy sweet or massively bitter, neither of which is very pleasant. In the end we both ended up going with the Double Mountain Molten Lava simply because at that particular moment on that particular day the floral/citrus hop combo was just slightly more appealing than the piny/grassy hops. We really could have flipped a coin though — both are excellent, easy drinking and well-made beers. Take your pick and enjoy!

Unanimous Decision: Double Mountain Molten Lava Imperial IPA

Extra Pale Ales — Uinta Brewing vs. Alesmith Brewing

Uinta Wyld
Extra Pale Ale
ABV 4%

Alesmith

Extra Pale Ale

ABV 5.25%

Extra Pale Ale, huh? So it's more than a Pale Ale, but not quite an IPA? Beer name variations are always a good reason for a Bottle Battle. Beers were tasted blind as usual. 

Beer #1 was hazy golden with a huge white head. It had some fruity hops in the nose and some grassy, tart aromas as well. The body was rich and almost creamy while the flavor was dominated by tart and yeasty notes. The finish was also quite yeasty with not much bitterness.

Beer #2 was clear golden yellow and featured aromas of grass, grain and citrus. The flavor was crisp and clean with a mild citrus/pineapple hop presence. It finished with more grassy flavors and mild grapefruity bitterness.

#1 was the Uinta Wylde. We suspect something was wrong with it. The yeasty character was bizarre. I even went so far as to guess that the name might have something to do with it being fermented with some wild (wylde) yeasts. I was wrong. It's part of their certified organic line of beers and according to their website it is supposed to be a pretty straight forward hoppy pale. So, it's quite possible we got a bottle that was stored improperly or something. Either way, it was the obvious loser.

The Alesmith beer on the other hand was a very nice, hoppy, sessionable pale ale. We highly recommend you pop a bottle when the weather warms up. 

In regards to the Extra Pale Ale moniker, both these beers seemed to actually be lighter in body and lower in alcohol than many standard pales ales we've tried. So in the grand hierarchy of hoppy beers these would fall somewhere below a standard pale ale putting them in the same general area as India Session Ales. Perhaps the "Extra" stands for extra sessionable? More marketing nonsense.         

      

Unanimous Decision: Alesmith Extra Pale Ale

Wheat IPAs — Pyramid vs. Shock Top

Pyramid
Wheaten IPA
ABV 6.5%

Shock Top

Wheat IPA

ABV 5.8%

It's been interesting to watch the big breweries try to infiltrate the craft beer market. Blue Moon Belgian White (brewed by MillerCoors) is perhaps the most popular, offering a sweeter and more complex option to those who are looking to upgrade from the watery tastelessness of canned macrobrew. These new Wheat IPAs appear to be an attempt by Pyramid (not quite a macrobrewery, but a huge microbrewery) and Anheuser-Busch (brewer of Shock Top) to grab a share of this market. We're always game to try a new IPA style so the battle was on.

The Pyramid was brownish-orange with an earthy, roasty and slightly soapy aroma. The flavor was clean and malty but mostly devoid of any significant hop presence. The finish was a bit soapy as well with just a touch of bitterness. 

The Shock Top was reddish-orange and hazy. It had a much sweeter aroma with some spice, citrus and floral notes. The flavor was also mostly sweet and malty with a prevalent spiciness (cinnamon, coriander, clove). Once again we had trouble detecting any hops. Honestly it tasted more like a spiced winter beer than an IPA (we found out later that it's brewed with citrus peel and coriander). 

As we'd feared these beers are not made for people who like craft brewed IPAs. Having detected very little hop presence in either beer we weren't exactly sure what qualified them as IPAs aside from the acronym on the label. And since the addition of wheat in the grain bill of a beer is unlikely to produce any noticeable flavors or aromas, the use of "wheat" on the label is probably nothing more than an attempt to capitalize on the success of Blue Moon's Belgian White (a wheat beer) and Widmer's Hefeweizen (also a wheat beer). Still, these are both a huge step up in flavor from macrobrews so if they can serve as a gateway beer to budding new palates then that's a good thing.

In regards to the battle it wasn't easy to choose. If we based it solely on style guidelines the Pyramid was the winner hands down since it came closest to actually being an IPA. However, if we based it purely on taste Ellen stuck with the Pyramid while I thought the Shock Top was tastier. Why they didn't just call it a Spiced Wheat Beer we'll never know. I guess we can blame it on the marketers.    

      

Split Decision: Ellen chose Pyramid, I chose Shock Top.

Double IPAs — 10 Barrel vs. Napa Smith

 



10 Barrel Dub
Double IPA
ABV 9.5%

Napa Smith Hopageddon
Imperial IPA

ABV 9.2%

First off we'd like to go ahead and admit that 10 Barrel is probably our favorite brewery right now. We loved everything we tried when we visited the brewery in Bend, we always buy their "Small Tank Project" beers and we proudly offer their excellent Apocalypse IPA at the bakery. On the other hand, we know nearly nothing about Napa Smith except that it is readily available when we are visiting family in the Napa, California area. That being said it was even more important that one of us taste the beers blind. I volunteered, Ellen poured.

Beer #1 was a hazy reddish orange with a huge citrus and pine aroma bordering on soapy. The flavor was harsh, grassy and medicinal and the finish featured intense citrus rind bitterness to go along with a strange smokiness and some astringency. I secretly hoped that this was not the 10 Barrel.

Beer #2 was more brownish orange and had a much more subdued hop aroma that was dominated by a floral honey character. The flavor fell more on the malty side of things with a nice sweetness tempered by some pleasant citrus hop notes. It finished with the same kind of citrus rind bitterness as #1 but without any of the weird smokiness or astringency.

We both agreed that Beer #2 was the clear winner which just so happened to be the 10 Barrel Dub. The Hopageddon was certainly extreme, but extreme only goes so far before everything gets out of whack. In an ironic twist we felt that the 10 Barrel was very well balanced for a Double IPA despite reading this on the side of the bottle: "This beer is not balanced, was not intended to be, and will never be balanced. Seriously, if you don't like hops this beer might possibly ruin your day."

On a side note, the Hopaggedon dominated in the label design category. Who doesn't love a flaming hop meteor? Well played Napa Smith.      
      

Unanimous Decision: 10 Barrel Dub 

Double IPAs — Silver Moon vs. Avery Brewing

Silver Moon Hoptagon
Imperial IPA
ABV 8.5%

Avery Brewing DuganA
Double IPA

ABV 8.5%

Recently we have noticed a movement in the craft beer world to push back from the crazy excess and intensity of imperial-style beers in favor of the more refined and easy-drinking profiles of low-alcohol "session" beers. We are not part of that movement. Although we certainly enjoy a well-made session beer, especially in the summer, we are drawn to the extremes — beers that push the limits with unique ingredients, new techniques and experimental style combinations. Double IPAs are perhaps the most popular of these extreme beers and we are shamelessly in love with the style. So despite the current trends, expect to see a heavy dose of heavy beer on Bottle Battle. That's how we roll.

Having recently visited Bend, we were happy to see Hoptagon at our local bottle shop. We matched it up against some stiff competition in the DuganA as Avery has established itself as a force when it comes to hoppy beers. Ellen poured so that I could do a blind tasting.

Beer #1 was ripe with floral hops that bordered on soapy. It was sweet, thick, full-bodied and citrusy in a Lemon Pledge sort of way. The finish was moderately bitter but mostly dominated by sweet malts.

Beer #2 had an funky, earthy, piny aroma. It was also full-bodied but the sweet honey flavor of malt overwhelmed the hops in the flavor. It finished with a somewhat harsh and lingering bitterness.

Neither were stellar. Ellen immediately was drawn to Beer #2 which turned out to be the DuganA. At first I was leaning toward the Hoptagon, but as it warmed up all the chemical, soapy notes became amplified and I switched to the DuganA.
      

Unanimous Decision: Avery DuganA

Imperial Stouts — Sierra Nevada vs. Green Flash

2012 Sierra Nevada
Narwhal Imperial Stout 

ABV 10.2%

Green Flash
Double Stout
(Black Ale)

ABV 8.8%

I've been a Narwhal enthusiast for some time now. As a graphic designer for Archie McPhee I helped with the concept and design of the infamous Avenging Narwhal Play Set (now available in a slightly lesser version here). I even wrote a children's picture book called Do Narwhals Have Blowholes? So you can imagine my excitement at seeing the image of a Narwhal staring at me from the shelves at our local bottle shop. The fact that it was an imperial stout made it even more compelling. After finding a suitable competitor in the Green Flash Double Stout the battle was on.

 

The Green Flash was very nice with roasty chocolate and coffee notes mixed with a slight hop spiciness in the aroma. The flavor continued with the same roasted chocolate malt and coffee characteristics. It finished sweet and malty with a mild bitterness to round things out.

 

The Narwhal was a whole different beast. It smelled very fruity and sweet with some noticeable harsh alcohol aromas and a bit of vanilla. The flavor was very sweet, a bit syrupy and somewhat soapy while the finish was sweet, boozy and harshly bitter.

 

I was pulling for the Narwhal the whole time but in the end even my extreme bias could not propel the Narwhal to victory. The Green Flash was just a better beer, more balanced, more nuanced, more enjoyable. I haven't lost all hope though. I have stashed a bottle of Narwhal in my beer cellar in the hopes that some time in the bottle will transform it into a magical beer worthy of its name. I'm giving you another chance Narwhal, don't let me down...  

Unanimous Decision: Green Flash Double Stout