Announcing the “FINAL FOUR” of B&B’s 1st Annual “March Gladness” Double India Pale Ale (DIPA) Bomber Tourney!
A "Cinderella" brewery is still alive. Are they this year's "Wichita State" of breweries? We'll see. Thankfully no bottles were broken during the Tourney tasting. Tune in Sunday morning April 7th for the Championship match-up and Monday afternoon April 8th for the crowning of "DIPA King".
Announcing the “Elite 8” of B&B’s 1st Annual “March Gladness” Double India Pale Ale (DIPA) Bomber Tourney! The B&B team and an elite group of tasters will embark on a tasting tournament of epic IBUs.
Double the hop, double the pleasure…may the best DIPA win!
These DIPAs are considered staples of each local brewer in the Chicagoland area, extending from the shores of Lake Michigan in beautiful Gary, Indiana to the hipster alleys of Chicago. Matchups were determined based on a systematic random selection process involving small pieces of paper and a hat.
The B&B team will be blindly drinking through the first round this week to determine which DIPA's will make it to the Final 4. Check back next week as the Final 4 Artisans will be proclaimed.
Brewery:Avery Brewing Locale:Boulder, Colorado Craft Circa: 1993 Style: India Pale Ale ABV: 6.50% IBU: 69 Notables: Available year-round
Restaurant:Kaos Pizzeria Locale:Denver, Colorado (on historic South Pearl Street) Restaurant Circa: 2009 Type: Italian Notables: Great garden dining area and decent beer selection. Bring your best friend…dog that is. They can dine with humans in a designated
area in the garden. Kid friendly too ;).
Avery Brewing's IPA
Overall: B&B headed out west to Denver to review Kaos Pizzeria and some local beer. First up, Kaos Pizzeria...great garden dining atmosphere, and outstanding Naples style pizza
baked in wood fired ovens. I had the pepperoni
and Margherita (per
Wikipedia named after Queen Margherita after a visit to Naples), which was chock-full
of fresh flavorful ingredients and delicious crust. I felt like I was transported to Naples. No, I haven’t been there but I’ve had my
share of Naples style pizza, as in Naples,
Italy, which is considered the birthplace
of that circular disc of eating pleasure.
Kaos Pizzeria is nestled on a quaint, hodge-podgy stretch of shops,
restaurants and houses (and yes, Rx medical marijuana joints…intentional pun) along
historic South Pearl Street located south of Downtown Denver. No, it’s not a “cheesy” front for KAOS, the global
organized crime syndicate, nemesis of CONTROL in the TV series “Get Smart” (Wikipedia). Kaos Pizzeria didn’tmiss it by that much; it was on the mark.
Instead of vino as the sidekick or “Agent 99”
to my pizza, I was treated to a $2 draft of Avery’s IPA (happy hour time at Kaos ;)). This IPA just kept on delivering a
steady wave of hoppy heaven with each sip.
This beer went really well with the Neapolitan pizza. It held up well and made me want more. And from what I can tell, Avery Brewing isn’t run byBoulder resident “Mork” from Ork, “Na-Nu Na-Nu….awww Shazbot!”
Kaos had a respectable beer selection and fantastic pizza. The service was good, not stellar, but we were in no hurry and only waited
a bit for the check. The drink and food
came quickly.
Mini-review: I drank this after the Avery IPA. Normally I wouldn’t mention a second beer in
the review but I thought this was worthwhile to mention. The beer was the “St. Lupulin” American Pale
Ale from the Odell Brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado (north of Denver). It had a slight hoppiness to it and was
smooth with every sip. Quite tasty!
Odell Brewery's "St. Lupulin" APA
Acquisition: Pizzas range from $7-$20 depending on size and
toppings (two small pizzas contained in the review were $9-$10). $2 draft beer happy hour special.
Overall:Very good beer.It smelled very nice with floral kicking in
immediately.Not overwhelming with hops,
not very bold either.You are wanting it
to come off smoother than what it is because the initial taste reminds me of
other solid IPAs that I’ve had, but didn’t quite finish off as well as you hope
it to.With that said though, I would
definitely give it a shot, and for the price, it’s feasible to give their other
beers in their lineup a shot too.Just
remember if you ever visit the U.K., this brew is a definite viable option for
the hop drinkers who want a change up from their Boddingtons.
So
why venture off to the land of Cockneys
for today’s brew?Well 50 years ago
today, July 12, 1962, marks the date the Rolling Stones first took the stage.Their first gig was at the Marquee Club in London’s Oxford Street.50 years of rock and roll… quite amazing.Rolling Stone Magazine has a great little
piece on the night that was to be.Check
it out.
The
Rolling Stones were my high school sweetheart that I am still happily married
to today.Through great memories and not
so great memories, they were and continue to be the soundtrack of my life. Here's to another 50 years.
Notables:An artisan beer crafted with a limited release in June of each year.
Label:Wonderful bottle.A hop squeezed into a glass.Sigh…. if it only were that easy.
Overall:I hyped this one up in my mind due to the favorable beers and consistency I’ve consumed through Two Brothers.Across the board they are one of the more unswerving breweries out there.Hop Juice did not disappoint.This is an extraordinary brew.No wonder this brew has its own festival.That’s right, its own festival.The Hop Juice Festival takes place the first weekend of June each year, to kick off the release I imagine. They also have a home brew competition, so start working on yours this year.
Double IPAs, also referred to as Imperial IPAs are an extra hopped version of an IPA. They typically have alcohol content above 7.5% volume according to Wiki.
This is an extra hopped version of their Resistance IPA, with full citrus and a balanced blend of caramel that works nicely.A little heavier than I would have imagined, making it difficult to drink another in the midst of a heat wave, but an excellent beer.Very smooth, very bold, and it’s a very good choice for just about any occasion.Just make that occasion a June event to take advantage of the fresh hops.Hovering around 10% alcohol, a few of these and you’ll be doing stunts like Mrs. Featherbottom in no time!
Acquisition:22 oz.$8 - $9
Tidbits:The Hop Juice festival takes place outside of Naperville, IL.If you plan on attending in the near future, play it safe!Naperville and the surrounding area are continuously in the top tier for DUI arrests in Illinois and are infamous for making busts constantly.
Overall:In honor of the Euro 2012 tourney concluding this afternoon, we wanted to provide a review of two beers brewed and crafted in the countries participating in the finals today.Spain and Italy.For Italy, we were in search of the original ReAle, which is their rendition of an American Pale Ale, but the ReAle Extra was what was available at our local store.This is considered an extra hopped version of the ReAle.Per the Birra del Borgo website, all the hops are added during the last 10 minutes of the boil, using 3 times more than regular ReAle.
Averageto above average IPA.The more you sip it the more profound it becomes, but it does stick around a little too long.I was about to write this one off, but the more you drink it, the more drinkable it becomes.What drags this ale down is the immediate bitterness and the tangy Carolina BBQ Sauce flavor that follows. Ok, i'm exaggerating, but it sure is sweet and tangy.Not overwhelming, but enough to avoid calling this brew above average.If I were to sip on this each time I cheered on Gli Azzurriin the Euro, I’m glad it takes place every four years as that is all my palate can take of this.Too sweet for my liking… but not as sweet as this Diana Ross penalty kick.
Acquisition:375 ML - $9
Tidbit:By the way, if you are ever in the Carolina area on a road trip.Highly recommend the link above.Bubba’s BBQ is quite good, and right off I-77, north of Charlotte.
