So of course I celebrate by drinking! And let's go American-themed!! Why? Because, fuck you, I have the freedom to do what I want.
I've touched on it before, but I'll start with the brewery I rep for - Backlash Beer - Salute. Salute ya damn shorts, you fool! Let's all take a moment to salute the Red, White, and Blue..Old Glory... AMERICA! Having only done Belgian-influenced beers until this point, Backlash decided to go balls-out and tackle a huge DIPA. The name mainly refers to saluting the pioneers of craft and how they're willing to help the up-and-comers.. but today, let's pretend it's saluting this wonderful, wonderful country of ours. At 8.5% ABV and 100 IBUs.. well, it gives you a crap-ton to salute to, that's for sure! A bit more than 2 months after its release, this is still drinking amazingly well. Fainter honey and toasty malts in those are almost completely hidden by massive Citra notes. Pure bliss! It's a bitter beer, but smoothly so with bright tropical citrus hops and smooth bold piney ones fighting for room on your taste buds. Alcohol is totally hidden and it's dryingly bitter on the finish.. making you reach for the glass again. I may be biased.. but...
- - 10 Hops!
I then went over a buddy's place to just hang and drink some good beer and brought this along...
Rogue - American Amber
a 5.6% ABV 53 IBU Amber Ale. Bottle almost looks like a mirror-image color version of the Backlash label.. I had to get it for the color scheme alone (you'll see another example later..) Just what you'd expect here.. a ruddy brown/pale copper pour, but with a rugged fluffy head. Caramel, toffee, toasty nutty malts..not much else to the nose. It's a fairly light-bodied Amber with tons of nutty malt tones. Lighter hazelnut and honey notes that are picked up by very faint grapefruit and floral hops. It's got a slightly different malt edge to it that most ambers and a different take on the hop profile.. unfortunately it falls a bit short for me.. I think a bit more body and fuller malts would do this beer wonders, especially with the unique hop flavors.. so sadly..
- - 6 Hops!
I then got creative for America and broke out the best damned budget Red, White, and Blue that I could muster!
Cigar City Brewing - Tocobaga Red Ale
a 7.2 ABV 75 IBU beer that pours out a deep burgundy red (shitty image quality)... almost no head. A rather rich caramel/toffee nose with hints of cherries and plums. The taste is a bit of a surprise with some rather pronounced piney and grapefruit hops on the forefront and finish. Malty sweet in the middle with more of that nice rich dark fruitiness. A hugely stand-out Red Ale
- - 8 Hops!
Blue Point Brewing - White IPA
a 6.0% ABV and 40 IBU mix of a Belgian White and American IPA. Not quite the white pour that I was hoping for for my Red White Blue.. but it's more the name than the color. There lemon, grapefruit, wheat.. some touches of banana and coriander from the White portion. This, to me, is the perfect example of the style, the perfect melding of the two different beers.. great cracker malts with some spicy rye somewhat present along with very effervescent citrus and yeast notes.. same banana and coriander you'd expect with some tropical and floral hops. Already one of my favorite White IPAs!
- - 8 Hops!
Opa-Opa Brewing - Blueberry Lager
a 5.0% fruit beer.. I'll preface this by saying that I have yet to have a blueberry beer that I truly enjoy. This has the lightest pour of all the beers so far today. A hazy golden yellow pour.. the artificial blueberry aroma hits you immediately, with faint grass and wheat notes. Being a lager, there's traditionally less malt flavors to hold the beer together, and sadly.. there should have been with this. It's all watery cracker malts and a light, syrupy artificial blueberry tone. Mildly astringent floral hops on the finish with a little honey and cereal grains. I can get better blueberry flavors from a Nutragrain bar.. still in search of an above-average blueberry beer.
- - 3 Hops
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