May 17, 2014 Show

This week we were joined on the phone by Harpoon brewer Charlie Cummings.  Charlie was the brewer involved in scaling up the winning recipe for Harpoon's annual Kettle Cup winner, this year the winning recipe was a fantastic pale ale brewed by an all female team at Harpoon, well done ladies!  We also took a look at Harpoon IPA before moving on to other hoppy-ish beers for a lovely discussion on pale ales and amber ales and of course our special 5th beer!


Harpoon Brewery- Citra Victorious:  This award winning pale ale certainly earned the Kettle Cup award.  Strong notes of grapefruit ooze from this beer, but not in an overall sweet  or off putting manner.  Instead it is a solid punch from the Citra hops backed with grapefruit peel for a lovely and well balanced Pale Ale.  This is certainly a beer for those who love hoppy beers, but aren't interested in an assault on your palate.  Another fantastic beer from Harpoon's 100 barrel Series!

Harpoon Brewery- IPA:  Harpoon's IPA has built itself quite the reputation.  This is definitely an IPA for those new to the style, still very enjoyable but for true hopheads it may fall short in the bitterness category.  Strong notes of floral and citrus aroma come though backed with a sweet malt bill for a pleasant balance.  Trying to convert a friend to IPA's?  Try having them drink Harpoon IPA, it just may win them over.

Tröegs Brewing Company- Pale Ale:  A brewery that can make a solid Pale Ale is truly a fantastic brewery and Tröegs Brewing Company has certainly built a solid reputation as a great brewery, so the fact that their Pale Ale is also fantastic should be no surprise.  A very refreshing, easy drinking beer that is highly sessionable and great to have in the fridge at all times as a go to beer.  Very nice balance between the hops and malt with neither coming through too much, but hops are certainly present in the beer but have been brewed with restraint as one would expect from a good Pale Ale!

Green Flash Brewing Co.- Hop Head Red:  This hopped up Amber Ale is a hefty beer with lots of flavor, but is still very easy drinking and smooth.  Amarillo hops are on display here with a lot of citrus fruit flavor coming through and mixing perfectly with the sweet malts.  The 7% ABV is very well hidden with no heat whatsoever coming through.  This is a perfect beer to pair with any spicy Mexican dish and another great beer to have on hand at all times.

This weeks special 5th beer from Derek's fridge:

Ninkasi Brewing Co- ReNEWale:  Every year Ninkasi release a different version of ReNEWale and they are not shy of experimenting with this beer.  This years ReNEWale is a blend of 2 styles, a German Altbier and a Pale Ale, the idea of blending a malty beer with a somewhat hoppy beer really shouldn't be too shocking when you think of it.  The result is a smooth beer that has a lot of German characteristics in it with a slight hop backbone.  The mouthfeel is definitely that of a German Altbier,, this is a very smooth and easy drinking beer that would appeal to German beer fans.  Another great beer from the fantastic Ninkasi Brewing Co!  If you would like to find their beers near you click here for a list of distribution areas and distributors!