AHHHHH....beer is good!

I think we all know that I love beer. Some may think a little too much....but I don't think so. Well anyway, my wife wanted to check out the jazz festival in Anacortes last night, particularly the act playing at the Rockfish. Well, I was ready and willing knowing that at the very least, I would have a great night with great Anacortes brewery beer. To start off, their cask offering was the pale dry hopped with Amarillos. Now I like Amarillo hops, not quite as much as Simcoes (which are the dry hop of choice in Anacortes) but they are still good none the less. The problem is that there is a shortage of Simcoe hops now and I've been told they won't be back for a couple years. If this is the case, they I am truly saddened. You see, Simcoes (for those that don't know) are the best dry hopping hop because of their high alpha acid level (usually around 12 - 14%) in conjunction with their relatively low cohumulone level (usually 15 - 20%). Now what I've seen is that the higher the alpha is and the lower the cohum is, you tend to get a very strong flavored, yet wonderfully grapefruity flavor. It's really a great hop balance taste. You can actually get away with a lower IBU level in your IPA and still maintain a wonderfully hoppy flavor. Case in point, Boundary Bay IPA. I don't know exactly which hops they use, but that is the style that they put forth. An example of a high cohum hopped beer would be Flyers IPA. It is what I would consider an angry bitter. This comes from a very high IBU level (I believe around 100) that tastes VERY bitterly hoppy and usually makes you squint and utter "holy #%@!" after your first drink. Its not a bad thing, just a different thing. It all depends on personal preference. Probably the best example of a great Simcoe IPA would be previous cask offerings of the IPA at the Anacortes Brewery. The feeling from that beer was pure pleasure. A wonderfully piney, yet grapefruity flavor that didn't make you squint. Anyway, I had a couple IPA's after that and then called it a night.

Fast forward 24 hours to tonight. I had a couple of the Laughing Dog IPA's that my WONDERFUL wife picked up for me while she was back in Sandpoint, ID a couple weeks ago. Wow, I forgot how much I love that beer. Well, its been a very successful weekend so far to say the least and I am looking forward to it culminating at the Porterhouse on Monday.

Until next time,
Lopez Jason.