Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial I.P.A.

Dogfish Head, out of Milton, Delaware, brings one of their premium beers the 90 Minute Imperial I.P.A. This stuff pours out a nice light amber color. It has a strong bitter hop that overwhelms the nose, and only reveals a faint glance at the malts beneath. Much to my surprise the opposite is true when it first hits the palate. The malts totally dominate up front bringing out a lovely mellow caramel sweetness. Then the hops come to the forefront, followed by a very balanced finish. This beer really brings it with big flavors and a big punch, 9% ABV. I would recommend it highly, but it is expensive, about 3 bucks a 12 ounce bottle. Make it a pint I'd be happier. Go Blue Hens, One of the gayest sounding college mascots ever.

Nectar IPA

Nectar I.P.A. is from our friends in California the home of hippies and " medical Marijuana ". They also have the best governor of any state. He has the sword from Conan in his office. My governor doesn't have one, because he wasn't fucking Conan. This beer is from the Pasa Robles, a noted wine growing region that you used to be a able to get great bargains from until it got " discovered". Anyway, this stuff pours out a clear amber. It has some hop on the nose as well as a strong floral scent and a touch of citrus. There is a lot of bitter hop up front which yields to an intense lingering herb flavor ( not a joke ). You also get a floral tinge which carries into the very bitter finish. After a couple of sips, or giant gulps in my case, the bitterness subsides somewhat. This beer is worth investigating if you like I.P.A. I think the balance is off, but there are interesting flavors here worth a look. And, it's got pot in it.

A Trio of IPA's

I decided to postpone my rant so I could drink a trio of IPA's. I thought it might help me clear my head and crystallize my thoughts. It did exactly that, which will become clear when I get a ranting. The three beers in question here are two from North Carolina and one from New Belgium in Colorado. From the beautiful state of North Carolina we have, Highland, Kashmir IPA, and Mother Earth, Sisters of the Moon IPA. From New Belgium, we have their Ranger IPA. I'm gonna handle these one at a time and compare at the end.
First of is Mother Earth's entry, I really liked their other beer I tried, Dark Cloud. This creation is a cloudy dark gold to light amber. It has real mellow hop tones to the nose as well as citrus and caramel. It is very bitter up front, but has some nice lemon and honey flavors. The finish has a real bitter hop complexion, that really lingers. This is petty hoppy, but that's what you get in an IPA. I thought it was good enough to keep throwing it down. Nice, refreshing, a solid IPA, but a bit too much bitterness, especially on the finish.
Next up is Highland's Kashmir, which pours out a cloudy dark gold. As much as I liked Mother Earth's Dark, I hated Highland's Oatmeal Porter. This has a nice mild hop, apple, citrus nose. Wow, this has nice caramel apple flavors with a crisp hop bite on the finish.This has yummy well-rounded malts and a nice body. This is an outstanding beer, and the leader in the clubhouse by 15 strokes. I can't believe this brewery can so drastically over-hop a porter and then go mild with the hops on an IPA. It's the opposite brewery. Oh by the way their label is again a pack of slanderous lies. It says this beer has " aggressive hop Character ". This is the least aggressive IPA I've had, but it's perfectly balanced and delicious.
Finally, we have Ranger IPA from New Belgium. This is a quite clear medium gold. The nose has a really strong, brisk hop. So strong it has that herbal evergreen scent, like a Christmas tree. But how does it taste? Well, just like it smells, except even stronger. It's like biting a Christmas, tree and chewing spearmint gum at the same time. You even get that strong tingling of the tongue you get with mint. Their are no beer like flavors here. I have to say it's a very unique beverage, and I kind of liked it at first. But, this tastes nothing like an IPA, or in fact any beer. They have made an interesting spearmint malt beverage. I never expected hops could be taken to this extreme, that it changed into a completely different flavor profile.
O.K, I didn't expect that, but let's sum things up. Highland's IPA was by far the best. This beer is beautifully balanced, and a joy to drink. The mother Earth IPA was also decent, but not nearly as good as the Highland. Finally, removed from the competition, is New Belgium's Ranger. I was trying to compare IPA's and they seemed to have mislabeled their spearmint malt beverage as an IPA. Congrat's to Highland, I'm going out now to buy more.

Mother Earth
Highland
New Belgium

Bell's Two Hearted Ale

Two Hearted Ale is an India Pale Ale style beer made by the Bell's Brewing Company of Comstock Michigan. I have a bunch a bunch of friends from Michigan, which is a lovely state. As long as you stay away from the gaping maw of hell which is Detroit. Bell's pours a cloudy pale gold.I would not have thought this was I.P.A. by looking at it. This has an overwhelming bitter hope nose with a little spiced apple. Wow, it tastes not at all like I expected, in a good way. The hops are there, but they balanced out by the toasty malt, and this fruity caramelized apple\pear flavor. I found the hops to be strong on the finish, but pleasantly so. This is a truly unique tasting ale, unlike any other I.P.A. I've had. I strongly recommend that you seek this out. I can't help but think how much better this is than the Jackman's Ale I just had. This probably has more hop to it, but it has balance that makes them shine not overwhelm.