Beer of the Weekend #617: Out of the Ashes Smoked India Pale Ale
Happy Halloween! Only a pair of princesses visited our house for trick or treating so we have a boatload of candy left over. Damn it! I picked a hell of a week to give up saturated fats. (I’m joking.)
I tried to find a beer befitting Halloween and thought Out of the Ashes Smoked India Pale Ale, brewed by the Fort Collins Brewery of Fort Collins, Colorado, was a fitting brew. (I thought “Out of the Ashes” was a good connection.)
Serving type: 22-ounce bottle. No freshness date.
Appearance: Pours a hazy, light amber into a pint glass. A finger of dense, buttery, tinted beige head dissipates slowly, leaving lacing stuck to the side of the glass.
Smell: The smoked malt is most prominent, imparting the aroma of smoked turkey or ham. The usual IPA suspects, including orange, grapefruit, and pine, sneak through the smoke.
Taste: The hop bitterness and smoked malt vie for dominance. The smoked malt has the edge, I think, though the hop bitterness works the taste buds and leave a lasting bitterness. Much like in the aroma, hints of the usual IPA flavors — grapefruit and pine — sneak through, but eventually become much more noticeable as the beer warms.
Drinkability: Hmm… I honestly do not know what to think about this one. It provides nice flavor and I like the smoke malt, but I am not convinced IPA is the best style to pair it with.
Fun facts about OofASIPA (which looks like a Norwegian term of endearment):
-Style: Smoked IPA.
-Price: $9.99/bottle at the Drug Town on First and Rochester in Iowa City.
-Alcohol content: 5.8 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: Listed on the beer’s webpage for “general food pairings” are “Mexican or any hearty, spicy food; chicken, sausage, pork.”
-IBU: 74.
-Color: 12 SRM.
-Description on the beer’s webpage:
The Quiet Man’s grade: B+.
I tried to find a beer befitting Halloween and thought Out of the Ashes Smoked India Pale Ale, brewed by the Fort Collins Brewery of Fort Collins, Colorado, was a fitting brew. (I thought “Out of the Ashes” was a good connection.)
Serving type: 22-ounce bottle. No freshness date.
Appearance: Pours a hazy, light amber into a pint glass. A finger of dense, buttery, tinted beige head dissipates slowly, leaving lacing stuck to the side of the glass.
Smell: The smoked malt is most prominent, imparting the aroma of smoked turkey or ham. The usual IPA suspects, including orange, grapefruit, and pine, sneak through the smoke.
Taste: The hop bitterness and smoked malt vie for dominance. The smoked malt has the edge, I think, though the hop bitterness works the taste buds and leave a lasting bitterness. Much like in the aroma, hints of the usual IPA flavors — grapefruit and pine — sneak through, but eventually become much more noticeable as the beer warms.
Drinkability: Hmm… I honestly do not know what to think about this one. It provides nice flavor and I like the smoke malt, but I am not convinced IPA is the best style to pair it with.
Fun facts about OofASIPA (which looks like a Norwegian term of endearment):
-Style: Smoked IPA.
-Price: $9.99/bottle at the Drug Town on First and Rochester in Iowa City.
-Alcohol content: 5.8 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: Listed on the beer’s webpage for “general food pairings” are “Mexican or any hearty, spicy food; chicken, sausage, pork.”
-IBU: 74.
-Color: 12 SRM.
-Description on the beer’s webpage:
The fifth member of the series, Smoked IPA, mingles a soft sweet smoke with citrus zest in the aroma, each fighting for dominance. Strong hop bitterness cuts through at the end to keep this beer clean, bright and full of flavor. FCB utilizes hand-crafted malts from Copper Fox Distillery to process a floor malted, dried in a traditional wood-fired kiln, and smoked by smoldering select fruitwoods on top of the distillery kiln room’s cast iron stove to create the unique flavor palate of the Smoked IPA.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B+.
