Beer of the Weekend #211: Double IPA
To assuage my guilt for not having drank more Iowa beer, the beer of the weekend is something that has been hanging around Dirty John’s beer room probably since August: Double IPA, brewed by the Peace Tree Brewing Company of Knoxville, Iowa.
I have no clue when John’s got it — the bottles say the beer was brewed in June 2010, so it had to be sometime later in the summer — but whenever it was the bier guys were cumming in their pants: Peace Tree Double IPA was the first double India Pale Ale brewed in the state.
Back then I thought, “Cool, but not my kind of stuff.” I was still leery of über hoppy beer and always walked past the big display of DIPA on route to maltier concoctions. Since then, however, my winter warmer adventures turned me into something of a budding hop head; I can now appreciate and enjoy the hoppier brews, and have even craved them at certain times.
A couple nights ago I went to the Hawkeye Hideaway, drank a Milk Stout, and planned the upcoming chapters of my novel in my journal. Before leaving, I made note of the beers available on tap for a BA “barfly” review (I will get to that in another post). I asked the bartender about a tap handle without a name, and he told me it was for Peace Tree’s Double IPA. He gave me a sample in a large shot glass and I was very impressed; it reminded me a lot of Hop Slam. So impressed, in fact, I decided to pick up one of the lingering sixers at Dirty John’s for a proper tasting.
Serving type: Six 12-ounce stubby bottles. The labels feature a wealth of information about the beer, including the brewing date as mentioned above: June 2010.
Appearance: Straight pour into a tulip glass. The color is a cloudy, deep amber. Two fingers of eggshell white head developed and dissipated to leave a spotted lacing and ring around the edge.
Smell: Massive hop citrus: orange and grapefruit. There are also notes of pine spice and a little caramel.
Taste: Mirrors the smell, but it is much weaker than the aromas leads you to believe — which, I suppose, is a good thing. I was expecting more of a hop bomb, but it is very smooth and balanced. Grapefruit and orange citrus, a little pine spice, and caramel malts. It leaves a slightly bitter aftertaste, but nothing overpowering. The alcohol is completely hidden, and this is the first Peace Tree beer which I have not tasted foul adjunct grain reminiscent of Cornucopia.
Drinkability: Not bad; a well crafted beer. It is better on tap, but it is still pretty damn good out of the bottle.
Fun facts about DIPA:
-Style: BA classifies it as an American Double / Imperial IPA
-Price: $14.95/sixer at John’s Grocery in Iowa City.
-Serving temperature: The label says to serve at 48ºF.
-Alcohol content: 9 percent ABV. Shit — I might get drunk tonight.
-Food pairings: BA recommends barbecue, peppery cheeses (Monterey/Pepper Jack), sharp cheeses (Blue, Cheddar), pungent cheeses (Gorgonzola, Limburger), game meat, grilled meat, and salmon.
-Gravity: 19.3º Plato.
-Oddly, there is not a single word about DIPA mentioned on the Peace Tree website. Very weird.
-However, Peace Tree does offer this information on the label:
-DIPA was, according to the label, a “brewer’s special release.”
-Check out this weird packaging:
-Here is another oddity: browse the first 140 beers listed under Double IPA on BA and only a single brew is rated below a B-. Out of 500, there are only 12 C’s. The grades are mostly solid A’s and high B’s. It seems nobody can do wrong with this style — or that everyone is brainwashed into thinking all Double IPA’s are incredible.
The Quiet Man’s grade: A-.
I have no clue when John’s got it — the bottles say the beer was brewed in June 2010, so it had to be sometime later in the summer — but whenever it was the bier guys were cumming in their pants: Peace Tree Double IPA was the first double India Pale Ale brewed in the state.
Back then I thought, “Cool, but not my kind of stuff.” I was still leery of über hoppy beer and always walked past the big display of DIPA on route to maltier concoctions. Since then, however, my winter warmer adventures turned me into something of a budding hop head; I can now appreciate and enjoy the hoppier brews, and have even craved them at certain times.
A couple nights ago I went to the Hawkeye Hideaway, drank a Milk Stout, and planned the upcoming chapters of my novel in my journal. Before leaving, I made note of the beers available on tap for a BA “barfly” review (I will get to that in another post). I asked the bartender about a tap handle without a name, and he told me it was for Peace Tree’s Double IPA. He gave me a sample in a large shot glass and I was very impressed; it reminded me a lot of Hop Slam. So impressed, in fact, I decided to pick up one of the lingering sixers at Dirty John’s for a proper tasting.
Serving type: Six 12-ounce stubby bottles. The labels feature a wealth of information about the beer, including the brewing date as mentioned above: June 2010.
Appearance: Straight pour into a tulip glass. The color is a cloudy, deep amber. Two fingers of eggshell white head developed and dissipated to leave a spotted lacing and ring around the edge.
Smell: Massive hop citrus: orange and grapefruit. There are also notes of pine spice and a little caramel.
Taste: Mirrors the smell, but it is much weaker than the aromas leads you to believe — which, I suppose, is a good thing. I was expecting more of a hop bomb, but it is very smooth and balanced. Grapefruit and orange citrus, a little pine spice, and caramel malts. It leaves a slightly bitter aftertaste, but nothing overpowering. The alcohol is completely hidden, and this is the first Peace Tree beer which I have not tasted foul adjunct grain reminiscent of Cornucopia.
Drinkability: Not bad; a well crafted beer. It is better on tap, but it is still pretty damn good out of the bottle.
Fun facts about DIPA:
-Style: BA classifies it as an American Double / Imperial IPA
-Price: $14.95/sixer at John’s Grocery in Iowa City.
-Serving temperature: The label says to serve at 48ºF.
-Alcohol content: 9 percent ABV. Shit — I might get drunk tonight.
-Food pairings: BA recommends barbecue, peppery cheeses (Monterey/Pepper Jack), sharp cheeses (Blue, Cheddar), pungent cheeses (Gorgonzola, Limburger), game meat, grilled meat, and salmon.
-Gravity: 19.3º Plato.
-Oddly, there is not a single word about DIPA mentioned on the Peace Tree website. Very weird.
-However, Peace Tree does offer this information on the label:
This brew is for hop huggers. We’ve added over 2-1/2 times the hops of our Hop Wrangler IPA with four varieties of hops in six massive hop additions. With over 1-1/2 times the barley of our normal beers, our grist hopper was nearly overflowing. Fermentation with the same Belgian yeast as our Hop Wrangler IPA rounds out this bold beer.
-DIPA was, according to the label, a “brewer’s special release.”
-Check out this weird packaging:
-Here is another oddity: browse the first 140 beers listed under Double IPA on BA and only a single brew is rated below a B-. Out of 500, there are only 12 C’s. The grades are mostly solid A’s and high B’s. It seems nobody can do wrong with this style — or that everyone is brainwashed into thinking all Double IPA’s are incredible.
The Quiet Man’s grade: A-.
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