EPISODE 27:
IPA Week At The Taphouse Grill
When the Taphouse Grill celebrated IPA Week last year, I took the opportunity to write a sonnet celebrating Dogfish Head's 120 Minute IPA. Well, IPA Week is here again. The 120 wasn't on tap this year, but that just means there was room for many new and different hoppy treats. Witness:
IPA Week: A Three-Sonnet Cycle
1)
Well, IPA Week, you have come again!
With more than forty IPAs on tap
I'll try the ones that look the best, and then
I'll try some more – a feather in my cap!
“Hop Capital” from Yakima was first
An old-school IPA, from where hops live
A clean crisp flavor, sure to quench one's thirst
A classic style that still has much to give
Next up for me was Skookum's “Mammoth Jack”
Which pours a hazy golden in the glass
At 8.2% it cuts no slack
This big donkey will knock you on your ass
A single style, but realized two ways
There's more to come: This “week” lasts ten full days!
2)
So soon there were two other beers to try
I wished to contrast ABVs, and so
I drank the very highest of the high
and then the very lowest of the low
First “Triple Lindy” roars out of the gate
As one might guess, a triple IPA
From Northwest Brewing Company, it's great:
At 9% it causes one to sway
I followed it with “Shin Splints.” Have no fear:
This session brew from Orlison won't bite
At only 5.3% this beer
Packs lots of taste while staying very light
They both were hoppy ales but one can see
They varied greatly in their potency
3)
Stillwater's “Readymade's” on tap today
But friends, I'd like to make a point of order:
They call the stuff a smoked black IPA
To me it tastes exactly like a porter
From Joseph James, the “Desert Snow” is next
With fruit and coriander in it. Say --
Is it a Witbier? I am sorely vexed!
But no, the hops say it's an IPA
Those two were on the edges of the style
Bridging the spectrum from the dark to light
The gap between them stretches out a mile
The difference is as stark as black and white
That's all the beer I tried, but have no fear
They'll hold this same event again next year
