Evolution Lot No. 3 IPA

For those of you that are not familiar, Evolution is a craft brewery from southern Delaware, who are quickly gaining a reputation within the craft beer community. I've toured the brewery twice, and their Rise Up! Stout easily makes it worth the trip every time. Recently they've begun some experimental beers with their Menagerie series, and from talk from the brewers, they have barrel aged, sour, and buggy beers on the way as well. While their normal beers are good, these future brews promise to be something extra special, and should be worth the effort to obtain. Unfortunately that generally means being at the brewery for the release, which for some reason tends to fall mid-week during work hours.

Upon pouring, Lot 3 is a clear copperish golden color, with a small dusting of white head on top. This head doesn't last long, and soon there is only wisps of bubbles floating on the top of the glass.

The aroma is a mixture of bready malt and a mixture of citrus and spicy hops. It's a sharp smell, with the hops cutting through, lending a leafy goodness to the mixture. Still, there is a balance of sweetness in the aroma, rounding it out nicely.

At first taste, one experiences a touch of orange peel, a bit of toasted bread, and then a strong peppery bitterness from the hops in the back of the mouth. This spiced sensation lingers for quite a while in the back half of the mouth, while the sweeter qualities dissipate almost immediately. Despite being almost 7% ABV, there's no alcohol flavor or warmth to it.

The beer is well carbonated, prickly without being overdone. It feels medium bodied, and leaves a build-up of stickiness in the back of the mouth. It does seem to have a certain dryness to it as well.

While it's not quite a standby for me, this is a beer I've gotten for myself before, and one I'm certainly planning on having again. Certainly when I want a peppery IPA, it would be among my first choices. Although the flavor leans strongly to the hoppy side, it still has good balance, and the flavors work together well. It's absolutely worth a try if you happen to be in the area.

- Adam

Red Poppy

It's been an interesting day so far. Dan and I have taken a trip to a case distributor to pick up some beer we can't normally get in the area, we stopped by a brew pub, and now we're back at Dan's enjoying on of his recent acquisitions, a bottle of Lost Abbey Red Poppy Ale.

Red Poppy is a Flanders Oud Bruin, a darker sour style originating in the Flanders area of Belgium. It becomes readily apparent upon the first whiff of this beer, as it has a strong aroma characteristic of a sour beer, with a mix of vinegar, lactic acid, and some fruitiness that I thought was apple and cherry. There's some oak as well, and a little sweetness to it that I don't recall smelling in many sour beers.

At first, the classic sour flavors come though as well, with a strong tartness and just a touch of vinegar, supported by a bit of cherry. There's some oak flavor as well, but I feel like this mostly comes through as a smoothness in it. Although some sours are loaded with so much flavor that they can be overwhelming, this seems somehow more drinkable, and the flavors are blended well. There doesn't seem to be any real hop flavor or aroma to the beer, as should be expected, instead it seems the sweetness is balanced by the sour qualities. It's very enjoyable if you like sour beers.

In the mouth the beer has a medium or medium-light body, but is extremely dry. It's well carbonated, and leaves almost a gritty sensation in the mouth while seemingly sucking away moisture.

I was a bit surprised as well at how relatively low the alcohol content in the beer was. I expected it to be upwards of 8 or 9%, but it's actually 5.5% Perhaps that explains why it is so easy to drink. I think someday I'd like to take a shot at something similar to this, since Red Poppy is fairly expensive and hard to come by, and I would like to have a lot more of it.

- Adam