Every Thursday I will provide you with a review of a beer, and sometimes I will review multiple beers or a brewery on a whole.
June 4, 2009 - Hoppy Days - Does this one Jump the Shark?
Breckenridge Brewery, Denver, CO - 471 IPA
If you like IPAs and all that bitter hop flavor that comes with them, then you may want to try this beer. However, if you like IPAs that have a crisp clean finish that don't make you feel like the back of your tongue had a minutia of soap bubbles, then you probably want to pass this IPA up for an Avery IPA (Boulder), a Full Sail IPA, a Bridgeport IPA, or a Long Hammer IPA from Redhook. Its not a bad IPA, but its not a good one either... the flavors seem to balance like a clown car filled with raiders fans on one end and lindsey lohan on the other. Meaning theres too much confusion with the flavor in one aspect and the hoppiness just doesn't seem to settle well with that... maybe a little less hop (or Lindsey Lohan 3 years ago) might just make this a more pallatable beer. Not that it wasn't drinkable, I had three.
The 471 is a small batch and though I don't believe Breckenridge claims it to be an imperial IPA or a double IPA, its 9% alcohol content leads one to believe that it is just that. Again, for much more volume on an "imperial" IPA you should try the one from Avery or Odell. The 471 comes out with a characteristic amber sheen to the body. From first pour it has a foggyness to it that eventually clears up. It has a fairly thick head 1 to 2 fingers tall which lasts most of the beer (depending on whether you drink like me or Mother Theresa - you figure out which one drinks faster, and don't forget she's dead), which is unusual for an IPA.
The firs sniff brings about that floral hoppy citrusy smell and perhaps the hint of juniper or pinyon. You expect to have a clean taste followed by the quick stab of sweet malt followed by the hops mellowing it out on an IPA, here you get the hop bitter first, then a shallow sweet malt flavor that drains down your throat making you feel like you've missed something in the beer... I will bet most of you who know your IPAs will take a quick second sip to see if you were mistaken in the flavor. You weren't. The hop flavor is strong and good, but the follow up just doesn't meet the expected order of such things, nor does it ever have that crisp bite letting you know and understand you just drank a quality beverage.
Too much hop delivered too early, followed by too much malty-sweetness delivered in a muted tone leave you wondering why the beer doesn't finish clean and why you feel like there is some residue still left in your mouth.
Say what you will about Coors, its one of the cleanest finishing beers I've ever had (although not much else there). It is a great stepping stone into the world of beer for someone to understand what I mean. Try the Breck 471 IPA, then follow it with a Coors or Coors light... you will feel that your mouth is cleaner after that first sip of Coors. Good IPAs (like the ones mentioned above) deliver this where the 471 misses.
But its a beer, and not a terrible beer and so it gets 4.5 out of 7 pickles. This is like a B-. If you're ever at the Breck brewery in Denver, the Breck Brepub in Breck, or the Ale House in Grand Junction, ask them what their $2 beer of the day is. Half the time it seems to be the 471, in which case drink up!
June 4, 2009 - Hoppy Days - Does this one Jump the Shark?
Breckenridge Brewery, Denver, CO - 471 IPA
If you like IPAs and all that bitter hop flavor that comes with them, then you may want to try this beer. However, if you like IPAs that have a crisp clean finish that don't make you feel like the back of your tongue had a minutia of soap bubbles, then you probably want to pass this IPA up for an Avery IPA (Boulder), a Full Sail IPA, a Bridgeport IPA, or a Long Hammer IPA from Redhook. Its not a bad IPA, but its not a good one either... the flavors seem to balance like a clown car filled with raiders fans on one end and lindsey lohan on the other. Meaning theres too much confusion with the flavor in one aspect and the hoppiness just doesn't seem to settle well with that... maybe a little less hop (or Lindsey Lohan 3 years ago) might just make this a more pallatable beer. Not that it wasn't drinkable, I had three.
The 471 is a small batch and though I don't believe Breckenridge claims it to be an imperial IPA or a double IPA, its 9% alcohol content leads one to believe that it is just that. Again, for much more volume on an "imperial" IPA you should try the one from Avery or Odell. The 471 comes out with a characteristic amber sheen to the body. From first pour it has a foggyness to it that eventually clears up. It has a fairly thick head 1 to 2 fingers tall which lasts most of the beer (depending on whether you drink like me or Mother Theresa - you figure out which one drinks faster, and don't forget she's dead), which is unusual for an IPA.
The firs sniff brings about that floral hoppy citrusy smell and perhaps the hint of juniper or pinyon. You expect to have a clean taste followed by the quick stab of sweet malt followed by the hops mellowing it out on an IPA, here you get the hop bitter first, then a shallow sweet malt flavor that drains down your throat making you feel like you've missed something in the beer... I will bet most of you who know your IPAs will take a quick second sip to see if you were mistaken in the flavor. You weren't. The hop flavor is strong and good, but the follow up just doesn't meet the expected order of such things, nor does it ever have that crisp bite letting you know and understand you just drank a quality beverage.
Too much hop delivered too early, followed by too much malty-sweetness delivered in a muted tone leave you wondering why the beer doesn't finish clean and why you feel like there is some residue still left in your mouth.
Say what you will about Coors, its one of the cleanest finishing beers I've ever had (although not much else there). It is a great stepping stone into the world of beer for someone to understand what I mean. Try the Breck 471 IPA, then follow it with a Coors or Coors light... you will feel that your mouth is cleaner after that first sip of Coors. Good IPAs (like the ones mentioned above) deliver this where the 471 misses.
But its a beer, and not a terrible beer and so it gets 4.5 out of 7 pickles. This is like a B-. If you're ever at the Breck brewery in Denver, the Breck Brepub in Breck, or the Ale House in Grand Junction, ask them what their $2 beer of the day is. Half the time it seems to be the 471, in which case drink up!
Epic, man. Truly epic!
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