Samuel Smith's India Ale -- Four Beers

First of all, let me say that IPAs are my favourite beers.

Then, let me add that "American IPAs" are my favourite IPAs, and that British IPAs, though possibly more true to the genre, aren't as true to the hops. They *are* hoppy, they *are* delicious... but they're softer. A little mellower. A little... waterier. A little more like an ale, and a lot less like hop soup.


This IPA is a quality examplar of the British IPA family. It's got great colour and a delicious, amber-y taste. But it's also got a lot of malt, and almost comes off sweet rather than bitter. I've honestly had reds that are more hoppy than this, and it actually kind of reminds me of one. It's still a quality beer, though.

4 out of 6.

Tree Brewing Co.'s Hop Head IPA -- Four Beers

Not for the faint of hop, "Hop head" is fairly accurate, and I've got to give it points for that (a favourite phrase of mine, by the way). It was almost soapy, but I can't care 'cause I love hop. It could be more balanced with a titch more malt, but I'm still going to give it four. Go local microbreweries knowing what real beer is! And for knowing what the story is and printing it on their label to educate the masses!

Anderson Valley's Hop-Ottin' IPA -- Six Beers

I didn't write a review of this beer while I was drinking it ('cause I was drinking a lot of it), but apparently I managed to take a couple of pictures of the bottles while I was drinking it, so I figured I'd do a review of it anyways. And I can do a review of this one from memory.

This beer is fantastic. Absolutely fan-freaking-tastic. It is one of the hoppiest beers I have ever tasted--and good, real IPA hops, with "a bite like a rattlesnake"--but nowhere near soapy. Not even close. It is so perfectly blended with gentle, smooth malt, that it comes off thick and rich, while still having that refreshingly bitter bite that makes me want to sit out on the porch with six of these, and watch the sun go down after a hard day's work... Seriously. Never have I ever seen an IPA so dark, nor tasted one so fresh and light. It's a perfect beer, made for hop-heads and gentler-of-palate beer drinkers alike, even for first time beer drinkers that 'til now have thought that beer is gross. Second (and a very very close one) only to Anderson Valley's Winter Solstice; and points for being available year round.

Lagunitas' IPA -- Four Beers

This is an excellent IPA. "Suicidally hoppy" is right. Nothing but hops, all the way down, in this one, but by no means in a bad way. Even with such a powerful hop kick, it's still gentle enough to be light and leave only a little aftertaste. It has what I think of as a "tight" carbonation too, where you don't feel bubbles or excess gas in your mouth, but there's a tingle all through your mouth, as if the bubbles were just smaller than usual somehow. More like champagne than pop. I don't remember the price, but I'll check later. A four if it's cheap, a three otherwise, and it'll definitely become a regular for me. [Update: now that I'm rating out of six beers--what was I thinking rating out of five beers and not six?--it's a four either way.]

[Label text:
-Thanks for choosing to spend the next few minutes with this special homicidally hoppy ale. Savor the moment as the raging hop character engages the IMperial Qualities of the Malt Foundation in mortal combat on the battlefield of your palate!
-Life is Uncertain, Don't Sip!]

Paddockwood's Rye IPA -- Four Beers

I think it's fitting that my first beerpost is of an IPA. If you keep reading this beerblog, and I keep writing it, you'll soon learn that I'm not just a cerevisaphile, but a hophead.

This beer, and a few others, are quickly convincing me that Paddockwood is a fantastic microbrewery. And Canadian! Other than... that one that makes Maudite etc., the only Canadian microbrewery I know, and I'm proud to say it's in Saskatoon. Paddockwood's beers are consistently full-flavoured; I'd feel comfortable picking any beer of theirs at random to try, because I know I'd enjoy it.

The Rye IPA is a great beer, though I wouldn't really say the rye entirely adds anything distinctively rye--that is, if you didn't tell me it was a Rye IPA, I wouldn't've thought it weren't a regular IPA. But, for an IPA, it really does a good job. It's a whole mouthful of hops, but without getting soapy like some super-IPAs do, and without losing a light aleness. The only reason I won't give it five stars is the price: here in little old Moose Jaw, at least, it was sold by the bottle, at almost $5. And I hate paying that kind of price, even when they're pouring it for me.