Here are a few things we know about IPAs: American drinkers flip out over them, which means breweries are going to keep brewing them, which means we’re going to see continued releases of variations such as sour versions. Brewers are marrying two disparate flavors of bitter and sour by subduing those major traits, but playing up the fruity qualities each share to create something unique. They can make the beer brighter, complex, and tantalizingly unique and refreshing. Our beer flight today explores five sour IPAs under the title Craft Beer Crosscut 6.14.17: A Flight of Sour IPAs.
Stone Enjoy After 10.31.16 Brett IPA
7%ABV
Like Stone Brewing’s Enjoy By beers, Enjoy After also comes with a conspicuous date: 10.31.16. But instead of a countdown, this particular date’s something of an oven timer. It’s either a fun participatory experiment in cellaring, or a clever scheme to free up space in the brewery’s warehouse — where those beers would otherwise mature until the brewery deems them ready — by asking fans to take on the burden of cellaring the beer at home. Perhaps it’s a little of both. Anyway, this Belgian-style IPA mash-up has a straw-colored haze with a clean white head. Under the hop aroma the scent of citrus, coriander and general earthiness is nestled. You can expect notes of earthiness, spice, funk, tart fruit and more; each bottle is its own experimental microcosm and will produce a unique flavor profile that promises to be as tasty as it is unpredictable.
Epic Brewing Tart ’n Juicy Sour IPA
5% ABV, 60 IBU
While “sour” and “IPA” would normally be an oxymoron — aging versus fresh — Epic Brewing has dialed in the flavor profile on its Tart ’n Juicy Sour IPA. The sour wins, but the initial sour punch gives way to a citrusy, juicy hop profile of Citra and Amarillo that, while second to this beer’s lactic sour flavor, is too big to ignore. The beer is, overall, very medium-bodied, with a long-lasting, pleasantly dry finish.
Trinity Red Swingline IPA Primitif
4.1% ABV, 100 IBU
Red Swingline IPA Primitif is the third installment in Trinity Brewing’s Office Space themed “Case of the Mondays Series,” which uses a unique double fermentation — warm with Lactobacillus delbrueckii in the kettle then cool with a special Bretta and aged in French oak Chardonnay barrels — for an extremely hoppy, barrel aged and dry hopped sour IPA. Focus of this craft beer is decidedly fruit — think ruby red grapefruit — from the choice to use Mosaic hops, Citra hops, Amarillo, coriander and tangerine zest. Red Swingline layers the tongue with lemony, pineapple Brett notes playing the high note, with tangerine and grapefruit just below; barnyard, rustic funk and oak lend the bass note. There’s so much going on, but it comes together perfectly.
Black Raven De Brett
5.9% ABV, 45 IBU
The beer formerly known as Raven de Garde, and released annually in the Corbeaux Collection, Black Raven Brewing’s De Brett is a Northern France inspired strong pale hybrid has gone through a seven month secondary fermentation with the “wild” yeast strain Brettanomyces lambicus, then dry hopped in order to meld bright fresh hop aroma and accent with aged wild yeast character. The astringency of the Brett with the hops creates a bit of a wild, outdoors-ish flavor with notes of pear, citrus hops, tropical fruit, smooth earth, light hay and a touch of banana ester. Some hybrid beers don’t ride the style fence so well, but this one has enough of a foothold in each to maintain balance and sincerity.
Green Flash Le Freak
9.1% ABV, 101 IBU
Green Flash’s Le Freak is a convergence of an American imperial IPA and a Belgian trippel. For being a (le) freak, the smell on this brew is incredibly satisfying. A Belgian-y aroma and hints of clove, coriander and, of course, vibrant hop notes fizzed up from the surface. We took our first sip and … le woah. Le Freak is brash, up-front and complex. We’re talking slight peppery greens, a floral pop, and a bit of a banana-candy flavor hiding underneath the bitterness, evening out the flavors. So freaky!
