Game Day Beer Review: North Peak Brewing Co. Diabolical India Pale Ale

(6.66% ABV). Diabolical pours a thin apple-ciderish red, with relatively little head. The predominant smell is hops, with just a hint of mellow pine needles and honey on the finish. I'm getting hops, too, upon tasting, but this beer's not overhwelmingly bitter. I also taste just a little bit of malty sweetness and some faint floral notes, and a little hint of grapefruit becomes more apparent as the beer warms.

It's a decent but not great IPA. It' definitely thirst quenching, and something very refreshing to have after spending the early afternoon of a hot summer day out on Lake Michigan.  I'll give it a B.

Game Day Beer Review: Boston Beer Company (Sam Adams) Latitude 48 India Pale Ale

(6.00% ABV).  I haven't seen this for sale before, so I was looking forward to trying it more than I typically look forward to Boston Beer's offerings.  Not that I don't like them, but Sam Adams has become the most "coprorate" of the craft brewers, based on my unscientific sense of size and corporate attitude, and so I'm rarely as jazzed about having a Sam as I am about something from some brewer a bit smaller and more daring. 

Drunk from a bottle (due to the lack of an available cup) while on a recent trip to New England, Latitude 48 IPA was mildy hoppy on the nose, although it's hard to say how it would have smelled if it had been properly poured into a glass, so don't hold me to this.

On tasting, the beer was more citrusy than hoppy, almost like a dumbed-down IPA for the novice beer drinker. I am getting strong grapefruit and mild pine, though, kind of like Boston Beer was teasingly trying to mix my home state of Florida with the tall pines surrounding our bed and breakfast in Maine. The prototypical Sam malts are identifiable up front, as well. 

It's decent and different, and it didn't give me an immediate headache like many other IPAs, so I'll give it a B.

Game Day Beer Review: Short's Brewing Co. Huma-Lupa-Licious India Pale Ale

(6.90% ABV).  Served on draft, Huma-Lupa-Licious pours a golden orange caramel color with virtually no head. It smells of mild hops and apples. Huma-Lupa begins with toasty orange citrus (I'm getting more orange than grapefruit) and pine needle flavors, and ends with a hoppy bitterness that lingers nicely on the tongue.

It's refreshing. I don't normally love this style of beer -- I know, I know, that's practically sacrilege for an American craft beer drinker, but it's true -- but this is one IPA I could drink again and again.  I'm going with an A-.

Game Day Beer Review: Cigar City Brewing's Papaya India Pale Ale

(7.50% ABV). Poured from a 750 ml bottle into a snifter. Papaya IPA pours a deep gold, with a two-fingered head that leaves behind some serious lacing. Its smell is hops and tropical fruits, as you'd expect from a brewer in the Florida tropics. The papaya is there, very present in the taste, and its natural mellowed sweetness has the effect of calming down the hops.  The hop bitterness finally comes out in the beer's long finish. It's a decent IPA, and quite a nice switch from your every day drinker: B+.

Game Day Beer Review: Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA

From the Desk of Correspondent James:

I have been drinking Sierra Nevada Brewing's Torpedo Extra IPA on and off for years.  It is definitely one of the most available and affordable premium American IPAs on the market.  Currently going for $6.99 for a sixer at my local Piggly Wiggly, it may be the best beer value anywhere (what would we do without Sierra Nevada?).  I used to think it was almost too hoppy – and I love hops – to the point of at times tasting burnt.  I do not know if Sierra Nevada has smoothed that out recently or whether I've just gotten used to it, but it has become a lot more drinkable for me.  Regardless, this is not a super citrusy IPA – more piney with the aforementioned very strong hop flavor.  Pours a muted orange with a one finger head and very nice lacing.  The smell is definitely hoppy, piney with only a hint of citrus /lemon.  Taste is the same, with an almost perfect level of carbonation for this style.  Drinkability may be a bit better with other premium IPA’s that lean more towards the citrus side (Smutty Nose Finest Kind comes to mind) but is still quite acceptable for this style.  This is not the best American IPA on the market but it is very close:  A-.