Beer Evangelists

This is the second beer in the Boulevard Smokestack Series. It pours with a thick head that leaves some lacing. It is almost the color of tea. The nose has hints of citrus and grain, but the nose isn’t terribly strong. For as thick as the head is, there isn’t much carbonation on the tongue. There is lots of hop bitterness that stays in the mouth well after a taking a drink. It has just a hint of sweetness at the finish. This is a very drinkable beer, but at $7.99 for a 750ml bottle (8.5% ABV) it is a bit pricy for me.

Oskar Blues describes their Gordon as a cross between an Imperial Red and a Double IPA. The deep amber color along with the off-white head and lacing back that claim up after being poured from a 12 oz can into a pint glass. The aroma is sweet and malty up front with some citrus in the background. I am surprised that the Gordon tastes as dry as it does considering how sweet the aroma is, but the website does claim that it is 85 IBU, making it a well balanced beer. The flavor starts off with resiny grapefruit but transitions to roasted grains with a bit of caramel. The finish is surprisingly, but still enjoyable, astringent.

This is a decently flavorful beer combined with a medium body to make a drinkable beer, but watch out because it is 8.7% abv and it can sneak up on you quickly.

Hopmouth is Arcadia Ales’s Double IPA and is a member of their Big Beer Series. It weighs in at 8.1% ABV. This beer was poured from the tap into a snifter style glass and was dark amber in color with some orange highlights. The pour provided almost two fingers of long lasting head that left large amounts of lacing on the glass. Grapefruit dominated the aroma but there was some pine and malt as well. There was a citrusy, grapefruit sweetness with some lingering bitterness but it was well balanced with a full, rich body.

At 76 IBU Hopmouth is not as bitter as many other Double or Imperial IPA, especially most west coast examples, but it was nice to have such a well balanced big IPA for a change. The bitterness mixed and grapefruit from the hops mixed extremely well with the sweetness from the malt. It was very rich and was great to drink, but the richness also meant it was not a beer you would want many of in one setting.

Overall, this is an excellent beer to try if you want a break from the west coast style hop-bombs that seem to be flooding the market these days, and it is one I will have again.