Appalachian Brewing Company Double IPA Series

On my last visit to Appalachian Brewing Company, I decided to try their new Double IPA series that is comprised of three different single-hop Double IPAs. All three beers have an alcohol content of 7.57% ABV, but have varying bitterness. The first beer I tried was the Nugget version. At 82 IBUs, it is second-most bitter of the three. The beer pours an amber color with foamy white head. The aroma consists of grapefruit, pine, caramel, and lemon. The taste is bitter and fresh with grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, and a pine finish.

The second beer I had was the Summit version. It rings in at 87 IBUs, making it the bitterest of the three in the series. The beer pours an amber color with a thin filmy white head. The aroma oily and bitter with a large grapefruit profile and some orange. The taste is big on orange, tangerine, and grapefruit, providing an excellent citrus offering before a pine finish with hints of pepper. This was my favorite of the three with its full body and oily mouth feel, it was sure to please the hop heads out there.

The final beer in the series was the Cascade version. It rings in at 72 IBUs and is the least bitter of the three. The beer pours an amber color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of grapefruit, tangerine, pine, and caramel. The taste is light on the tongue with a little bitterness that comprises of some grapefruit and tangerine. Of the three, this was my least favorite, as it lacked the pizazz of flavor and bitterness.

Bison Brewing Organic IPA Single Hop Series- Willamette

I grabbed a bottle of Bison Brewing Organic IPA Single Hop Series- Willamette in California and shipped it home to myself to review. Bison beers come highly recommended by The Beer Wench, so I took her word for it and gave the beer a try. The beer pours an orange-tinted amber color with a frothy white head that laces nicely on the glass. The aroma consists of tangerine, lemon, orange, pine, and lots of caramel. The taste profile is big on caramel with nice citrus accents, consisting of tangerine, orange, lemon, and pineapple. The finish is a little dry and bitter with pine, wood, and grass accents. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV. The freshness is apparent in this beer, and the citrus accents are aplenty. I really enjoyed the wide array of citrus flavors, all built upon a sweet yet solid caramel base.

Flying Dog Single Hop Imperial IPA (Simcoe)

While at Max's Taphouse in Baltimore, I ordered a glass of Flying Dog Single Hop Imperial IPA (Simcoe). The beer pours a golden color with a foamy white head. The aroma consists of grapefruit and sugar with pine hints. The taste is big on grapefruit, tangerine, sugar and caramel. There is a gritty hop bite with pine, almost chewable, with a sweet after taste. The alcohol content is 10% ABV. I am a big fan of simcoe hops, and this beer completely delivers. I felt that the gritty and chewable hop bite was very interesting, but still very enjoyable.

ABC Single Hop Series

The ABC Single Hop Series- From Left: Zeus, Horizon, and Simcoe

I stopped into Appalachian Brewing Company to sample their Single Hop Series. Basically, ABC created three IPAs, the only variation between the three being the hops used. I figured this would give me the perfect opportunity to train my palette even further and help it recognize the types of hops used in beers. All three beer looked the same, but the Simcoe IPA definitely had a more pronounced head than the other two.

The first beer was made with Zeus hops. The aroma consists strawberries. The taste is lightly bitter with a bit of burnt caramel. In the background there is also some lemon and pepper. This seemed like it was a run-of-the-mill hop used in making IPAs.

The second beer was made with Horizon hops. This beer was not very aromatic and it was difficult to pick up an hops. The taste is faintly lemon and somewhat plain. The beer has a dry finish. Overall, the taste was more caramel than hops, coming from the base malts used to make the beer. I thought that this was a simple base of hops, but could be used to introduce more people to the IPA style of beer.

The third and final beer was brewed with Simcoe hops. I immediately recognized this type of hops with its grapefruit aroma with sweet sugar undertone. From the beers I have tried, the IPAs using the Simcoe hop have become some of my favorite brews. The beer had a great grapefruit taste that is sweetened with sugar. Overall, this was a delicious brew and I saved some of it for last and wanted to savor each and every drop.