December 9th - New Belgium Lips of Faith Fresh Hop IPA

I managed to sneak in a bomber Friday night while putting the final touches on Toy Fest prep. No need to put the Month of Awesomeness off the burner when it could be staying alive on the back burner.

I wasn't sure which one to pick until I realized I still had a bomber of a fresh hop IPA waiting in my fridge for me. I've been sitting on quite a few Lips of Faith bombers for awhile and decided the Month of Awesomeness would be a good time to take down a few of them and the Fresh Hop IPA was the logical place to start especially since Allison wanted to share it with me.

Naturally this would have been better a few weeks ago when I first bought it but I thought it was still pretty damn good.  Not in the neighborhood of my favorite fresh hop beer (Founders Harvest Ale) but still had great hops aromas and flavors to make make my senses happy.

A Little Sumpin' Extra to kick off the weekend

I've learned to trust the Four Firkins whenever they email/Tweet about a new beer they got in because they have yet to steer me wrong. I'll be honest and tell you that when I heard about Little Sumpin’ Extra Ale from Lagunitas I was intrigued just because it was a cool sounding name. When I got to the store on Wednesday night I grabbed a couple of bottles because it was cheap (relatively anyway, I think it was $4.99).

It was sort of an afterthought but I threw one in the fridge because I figured if it was good I'd grab another couple bottles or so while it was still in stock for that price. Little did I know I'd be tasting one of the best beers I've had so far. This stuff is just amazing if you're a fan of fruity/citrus hops (and I am). The aroma is overwhelmingly pleasing to the nose, I could just smell it all night. The taste is just as good as the smell with wonderful flavors dancing on your tongue.

If you're a fan of the fruity profile of IPA's but not necessarily the bitter hops element, this could be the beer for you. Hell, if you just like good flavors in a beer this IS the beer for you. I just wish IPA's stored as well as stouts because I'd build a cellar to store stuff just like this. I'll be back to the Firkins this weekend to pick up at least a couple more bottles of this. You should do the same.

Cheers!

Review - Goose Island India Pale Ale

Last night I decided to officially rate the Goose Island India Pale Ale. Had a few over the weekend and was surprised at how much I enjoyed this beer. It seemed to me on Friday night that the floral/citrus elements were much more present in the smell than they were last night. It was still very good though, it reminded me a lot of the IPA's that I drank back when I first discovered IPA's like Sierra Nevada and Summit's IPA in that the hops kick/bite was very prevalent but this did have a bit more of the floral/citrus hints than I remember those having. Here's my rating on RateBeer where I gave it a 3.8:
Bottle from MGM Mankato, pours with a golden browncolor, foamy white head that lasts a few minutes. Definite hop smell with some light floral and fruity notes. Flavor is definitely dominated by the hops in a good way, with the citrus flavor sneaking in. Lingering bitter finish that keeps the hops on your tongue.

This was my 30th official rating on RateBeer and was my 16th IPA. Maybe I need to diversify. Nahhhhh... it'll even out eventually! Besides, there's a reason that I wear this t-shirt: