The Grain of Hoponius: Hoponius Union by Jack's Abby

A couple weeks ago I was doomscrolling through Twitter when I saw something that made me do a double take replete with record scratch sound and all: Brennan's was selling some brews from Jack's Abby, the lager mill out in suburban Boston.

I've wanted to try their beers ever since I first became aware of them. They brew lagers and only lagers so natürlich I was intrigued by these patient young upstarts. Although they eschew ales, the folks there are mindful of trends and so they have pale lagers made with the latest, fruitiest tasting hops as well as Baltic porters that have spent time aging in spirit barrels after being adulterated with pastry flavors. Such beers don't hold much interest for me but I certainly appreciate that they brew more than fizzy yellow stuff with Noble hops in it. More to my taste are Rauchbiers and unfiltered brews as well as highly non-Reinheitsgebot complaint ones such as a lemongrass lager, that aren't part of any hip trend.

On a recent weekend I made a trek out to Brennan's and found that they carried 4 of Jack's "Core" beers which are beers that they brew year-round, or mostly so, anyway. On offer were: House Lager (a Landbier), Post Shift (Pilsner), Blood Orange Wheat (Radler), and Hoponius Union (Hoppy Lager). When I saw that the Radler was 4% A.B.V., I decided to pass on it as I figured it was a flavored beer rather than a mix of beer and soda. Stiegl's Grapefruit Radler remains the gold standard for me.

I wasn't in the mood for a pils and thought that Landbier sounded like a very tasty option plus we don't have very many of them in these parts. I opened the cooler door and reached for a 4-pack of it when I made an audible worthy of Aaron Rodgers himself. Some kind of madness suddenly came over me and my arm moved to the left where my hands grabbed the Hoponius Union.

My post hoc rationalization was that stepping out of my comfort zone is a good thing. Embracing new flavors broadens the palate and builds character. And so on.

The can said "HOPPY LAGER" in bold, friendly, green letters. Brooklyn Lager is billed as a hoppy lager. I like Brooklyn Lager. So no problem, right? It was when I got home and turned a can around to read the back of the label that I understood what I had gotten myself into. There was ad copy to the effect of the beer being like a West Coast IPA but without the A.

At first I was horrified because of my indifference to, bordering on disdain for, American IPAs. Owing to this, I didn't know what West Coast IPAs were supposed to taste like any longer. However, I'd been enjoying Sierra Nevada Pale Ale lately and figured it would be like that, more or less.

Hoponius Union was a lovely gold color with a faint haziness to it which seemed to clear up after the beer warmed a bit. A goodly sized crown of loose, white foam lasted an average amount of time. There was a fair number of bubbles loose inside. The aroma was mainly fruity in nature with a mix of something tropical like a mango or passion fruit and a mélange of citrus scents redolent of grapefruit and orange. I also caught something floral in there too.

Taking a sip, I found that the beer had a medium-light body cut by a good, firm fizziness. Those fruity smells were here in the taste as was the floral bit. Something piney lurked below the surface while a faint malty/bread taste was beneath that. The floral and fruity elements faded on the finish allowing that piney/resiny taste come through. The bitterness was substantial, but not off-putting, and the finish rather dry.

Although Hoponius Union comes in 16 oz. cans, I found that 8 oz. was enough for me and I believe this was for 3 reasons. First, there is too little malt flavor. It's probably par for the course for an IPL these days, but both Brooklyn Lager and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale both have fine malt flavors and I guess I simply hoped there'd be more here. The last time I drank an India Pale Lager was back in 2016 and I could taste the malt. Old dog meet new tricks. Second was the Hawaiian Punch Effect where big fruity hop flavors give the illusion of the beer being sweet - and cloyingly so - even though it's not particularly sweet at all. Lastly, my tongue simply finds the fruity/floral & pine/resiny combination here to be just overly disharmonious. It's like they're two great taste that just don't taste great together. I am unsure if it is that mixture in and of itself or if perhaps it was the strength of the flavors here that caused such gustatory discord.

I lean towards the latter as I find the pine/fruit combination found in Sierra Nevada's classic to be quite tasty. I've had pilsners flavored with new fruity tasting hops but they were applied judiciously, giving those beers fruity accents. Here those flavors are about as subtle as Brian Blessed.

I am certainly not going to pour my remaining cans down the drain but I will split each with my Frau or perhaps use some to cook those habenero & carrot sausages she just purchased.

Next time I am sticking with my gut instinct and going with the Landbier. Or the pils. Or maybe both.

Junk food pairing: Try something spicy to go with your Hoponius Union like Paqui's Haunted Ghost Pepper Tortilla Chips.

It Is Real, It Is Rael: False Dichotomy by Two Brothers and Metropolitan Brewing

When I first heard that one of my favorite breweries, Chicago's Metropolitan had collaborated with another Chicagoland purveyor of suds, Two Brothers Brewing, I was ambivalent. This is no slight against Two Brothers. I've only tasted one of their beers so I am still very much developing my opinion of them. No, my bit of apprehension was due to the fruit of their collaboration, False Dichotomy, is an India Pale Lager.

What exactly constitutes an IPL is debatable. It's whatever the brewer labels as such. Still, I tend to think of the style as being a lager whose primary hop flavor or flavors are not those of Noble hops, i.e. - the hops have the taste of fruits and flowers. Perhaps my apprehension is completely irrational as I've consumed IPLs before and they were plenty fine. But I just can't help but shudder when I see the word "India" on beer label. It's a Pavlovian thing. It's a dislike of trendiness thing. I fear that I'll see Metro's brewmaster Doug Hurst dressed like he's in Ultravox courting the ironically mustachioed outside 1871 with his new India Pale Dunkel called USB Charger that is dry hopped with nameless experimental hops that smell like corpse flowers and taste like guava Jolly Ranchers.

I trust that his co-proprietor Tracy Hurst would put the kibosh on such a thing should this nightmare scenario ever come close to fruition.

Despite all this, I went out and bought a six pack when the bier was released earlier this month.

False Dichotomy, contrary to my photograph, pours a nice yellow – much lighter than my poor picture suggests. It was nice and clear with a big crown of soft, white foam. There were bubbles aplenty inside making their way up my glass.

If the bier looked like your typical pilsner, then the first sign that all was not as it appeared came in the aroma. Not knowing what hops were used I was surprised to smell some very spicy/grassy hops along with a touch of honeyed sweetness. Nothing out of the ordinary so far. That is until I noticed a rather floral hop scent that reminded me of Amarillos in its sweetness.

So Two Brothers and Metro had opted to not give us something from way out in left field; there was still some Central European tradition to be found in the bier which perhaps explains its name.

I noticed that honey-like malt sweetness on my tongue first. False Dichotomy is 7.2% A.B.V. so it's hardly surprising that the grains assert themselves. Being a lager, it has a clean flavor which lets not only the malts but also what must be an arsenal of hops compete for the drinker's attention. Initially it was that floral thing from the nose that hit me. Not overpowering but distinctive. Then further in the background was a mellow fruity/melon-like hop taste. This, presumably, came from the German Huell Melon hops, a rather new variety. Towards the end the hop flavor changed again into something more traditional – a Noble peppery taste. Amidst all this was a modicum of carbonation.

False Dichotomy finished with the peppery/spicy hoppiness developing into a bitter vortex of dryness, tasting a lot like a Czech pilsner. As I'd expect from a pils, my glass was left with some great Schaumhaftvermoegen with big streaks all around.

False Dichotomy is a fairly big bier being 7.2% A.B.V. but it's medium-light body makes it drink easier than similar brews appellated with another dreaded I-word – imperial. The bier really takes you for a ride with its hops. Noble hop flavors sit astride nouveau Central European ones. All things considered, False Dichotomy isn't that bitter a bier. While it is hoppy all the way through, it doesn't get bitter until the end. And I really appreciated that the malt was always there no matter where I was on the hop roller coaster.

Despite the many good things about this bier, I remain ambivalent about it. I'm undecided about the strong, bitter spicy hops next to the mellow melon ones. Individually these flavors are quite tasty but next to and melding into one another, well, I'm just not sold on the idea. I drank most of a six pack trying to decide – and believe me, I did not have to be restrained and have the bier poured down my throat - yet remain on the fence.

Junk food pairing: try some jalapeno popper stuffed pretzel bites with your False Dichotomy. Just as the bier blends the New and Old Worlds so do these pretzels with traditional Bavarian pretzel goodness surrounding a tender center of spicy cheese gluttony.

Good Morning Campers!: Hoppy Lager by Sierra Nevada

It's autumn now so what better time to drink the last of this year's vernal brews, right?

Sierra Nevada seems to be at the vanguard of collaborative brewing, at least as far as large microbrewers go. Their latest collaboration saw them partner with German brewery Brauhaus Riegele, founded when the most recent white visitor to North America was Leif Erikson, to produce an Oktoberfest. Subsequent iterations of the beer will feature collaborations with different German brewers. Last year Sierra Nevada began Beer Camp Across America which saw them come together with twelve other breweries across the country. Close to home they paired up with New Glarus to produce an ESB called There and Back. Farther afield they conspired with Ballast Point to brew Electric Ray, an India Pale Lager. The beer was brought back for an encore this past spring with a slightly tweaked recipe and a new nom de beer - Hoppy Lager.

I'm not sure who begat the IPL moniker but it's one of the more recent entries in the ongoing marketing atrocity that labels everything with some West Coast hops an India something-or-other. I've noticed the IPX phenomenon attacking cider now. We now have India Pressed Cider and India Wheat Cider because apples just aren't good enough, apparently. And now that winter approaches, you can have your Double IPA lip balm. Too potent for your delicate lips? Don't worry because there's session IPA lip balm too.

While the IPX moniker and the marketing abuse of hops generally (hop cigars, hop shampoo, hop bar soaps, hop air fresheners, and do any locals remember when Madison Sourdough put hops into bread?) have most certainly become a bad joke, that doesn't mean that tasty beers cannot be had with that unfortunate moniker.

Hoppy Lager pours, contra my photograph, a bright gold color. The beer was quite hazy but I suspect this was chill haze – Stone Brewing's blog has a nice explanation. The haze results when malt proteins bond with hop polyphenols at cold temperatures. Going by the blog post, I'd guess that the age of the beer is partly to blame. The haze doesn’t affect flavor and, if I'm going with the age hypothesis, I certainly can't knock Sierra Nevada. You can see the big, foamy white head for yourself. (It lasted a goodly amount of time.) But the haze obscures all of the bubbles going up the beer.

As I've come to expect from this style, the aroma was full of the requisite hoppy scents, i.e. – citrus and floral, from both Citra and Equinox varieties. But the malt was also evident here with the aroma having a very sweet component that smelled of honey and apricot.

Hoppy Lager had an intriguing mix of flavors. As hops go a dull(ish) blood orange or tangerine flavor was the first thing I noticed. A relatively new variety of hops, El Dorado, are used here and descriptions emphasize its big tropical fruit flavors so I'm assuming that they're responsible for the up front fruity flavor. There was also a floral flavor to be had and I presume that came from the Equinox hops. As in the nose, it was subservient to the fruity hop flavors.

Despite being a hop forward brew, the malt made its presence known. It tasted rather sweet to my tongue – reminding me of bread dough. But I also tasted something like plum – a fruitiness that wasn't sharp or bright like citrus. Perhaps this is the malt and the Palisade hops working in combination. The carbonation

The finish was dry with a healthy dose of spicy hops providing a lingering bitterness.

Although it had a clean flavor, Hoppy Lager was just too sweet for me. The malt flavor stood too far apart from and in too great an opposition to the fruity-floral essences of the hops. It's like there were warring factions on my tongue instead of complementary groups working together to find a zymurgylogical gestalt. The high carbonation added a bit of détente by way of dryness but not enough. As someone who is not a big fan of hop forward beers, I found that I didn't mind the 55 I.B.U.s of bitterness here. I think this is likely because of the fruity hop flavor along with the malt that refused to cede to the botanicals.

Junk food pairing: Hoppy Lager is a fairly big beer. The malty sweetness gives it a medium body and it clocks in at 7% A.B.V. Pair it with something sharp-tasting, something that will cut through the IPL miasma such as Snyder's Jalapeno Pretzel Pieces or Cheez-It Duoz Sharp Cheddar and Parmesan crackers.

The India Pale Lager from Up Nort: IPL from Leinenkugel's

Yesterday I looked at Central Waters' IPL and today we have another. This time it's from Leinenkugel's.

Apparently the powers that be at Leine's took some time off from brainstorming more "shandy" flavors (can a limited edition yuzu-chipotle-tamarind "shandy" be far off?) to address the current hop craze. The result was their new(ish) IPL (a.k.a. – India Pale Lager). It is at once a concession to current trends with a firm emphasis on hops and its attendant "I/India" marketing meme as well a nod to tradition in being a lager.

The beer was initially introduced last fall on draught only at various establishments in the brewery's hometown of Chippewa Falls as well as in Madison and Milwaukee. But in late June/early July (or thereabouts) bottles hit store shelves. According to Leine's website, IPL is available year-round.

IPL pours a beautiful clear gold color. I got a really big foamy, white head that proved to be in no hurry to go anywhere. In the beer itself there was a goodly number of bubbles forming on the bottom of the glass and then floating upwards. From a visual perspective, IPL was quite aesthetically pleasing.

IPA had a similar smell to that of Central Waters' Summarillo. There was a distinct citrus/grapefruit aroma along with pine from hops. Leine's claims there are five varieties of hops in IPL but their website only lists two - Hallertau Mandarina Bavaria and Ahtanum. Elsewhere I've read that the remaining ones are Hallertauer Herkules, Citra, and Cascade. A nice mix of German and New World hops that mirrors the style's mix of trendiness and tradition. The malt aroma here was more prominent than Summarillo's with more potent notes of honey and raisins.

Although IPL and Summarillo are in the same ballpark as far as flavor goes, there are some significant differences. Both have a prominent citrus taste. Four of the five hops in IPL contribute citrus qualities with Hallertauer Herkules being the lone holdout. However Leine's went for grapefruit whereas Summarillo leans more towards orange. IPL also distinguishes itself with those Hallertauer Herkules hops. They take no guff from their citrusy counterparts and impart a strong, fragrant piney/resiny taste. Again we have that trendy/traditional dichotomy at play. While the hop flavors were certainly out front, there was a definite malt sweetness to be had. There was a certain earthiness to the malt on the nose which was lost on the tongue. The malt tasted more doughy with a caramel flavor too.

The beer finished clean and dry just like one would expect. Those Hallertauer Herkules stayed the course and left some lingering spicy/pine bitterness. My glass was left with some really nice, thick Schaumhaftvermoegen. With Leine's IPL your glass will be pretty from pour to final swig.

IPL is a very fine beer. It's a bit bigger than Summarillo coming in at 6% A.B.V. and 57 I.B.U.s. Still, it was rather easy drinking with a medium-light body and a nice smoothness. Caramel malts give a bit more sweetness for the hops to play off of but the beer never tastes heavy. There's simply a really nice interplay of flavors here. Yeah, the emphasis is on the hops but the malt never lets you forget it's there. To my tongue the citrus/grapefruit flavors come first and then are superseded by the spicy/resiny ones which take you into the finish. This seems rather fitting for a beer from Leinenkugel's, a brewery steeped in German lager traditions. It's as if they let the young whippersnappers their turn but then followed that up by giving notice that tradition endures.

Junk food pairing: Pair IPL with some Asian fare such as Oriental snack mix with its Yin/Yang pairing of delicate rice crackers and wasabi-laden peas or for a heartier meal, fry up some shrimp chips. You know, those oddly-colored chips that are like Shrinky Dinks until you fry them whereupon they poof up like a Cheetoh.

After the Beers of Summer Have Gone: Summarillo by Central Waters Brewing Co.

As I write there is still just under a week of astronomical summer remaining and Summarillo is a summer seasonal so, technically speaking, this review is quite timely.

Earlier this aestival season Central Water introduced its new summer seasonal, Summarillo. Billed as an India Style Pale Lager, it is hopped solely with Amarillo hops. Hence the portmanteau name. The IPL is a relatively new marketing gimmick crafted by American brewers to capitalize on the tendency of many lemmings drinkers to go rushing headlong towards any beer whose style incorporates the word "India" or a capital "I" in abbreviation of the word.

I'm not really sure what an IPL is. Sam Adams released one called Double Agent a few years ago while Wisconsin Brewing Company brewed an "India White Lager", an IPL crossed with a witbier. Leinenkugel's also has one. A working definition of IPL might be a pale lager that is hopped without Noble hop varieties or with them in addition to American hop varieties. Or something. Honestly, they're just Bohemian-style pilsners made without Saaz hops as far as I can tell.

I was rather underwhelmed by Double Agent, to be blunt, and WBC's take was all Frankenstein-like with the witbier being stitched onto the IPwhatever concept. So how does Summarillo compare?

It pours a brilliant, summery yellow for starters. Curiously enough, it was slightly hazy. I presume this was a chill haze. My glass was adorned with a lovely, pillowy white head that had Viagra-like staying power. I mean there was foam left at the bottom of my glass after the beer had been deposited into my maw. There was a healthy amount of bubbles in the beer making their way up to the perma-head.

Not being a lupulin expert I was not overly familiar with Amarillo hops going into this. The aroma, however, was redolent with its characteristic citrus, floral, and resiny bouquets. As someone who tends to drink beers hopped with Noble hops or other similar varieties (e.g. - Liberty, Northern Brewer), I found myself drawn to the Amarillo. It was like a siren's call tempting me to taste its elixir. Except it was a scent. A siren's scent tempting me to taste its elixir.

Unexpectedly, the malt was also present here with a bready scent. Being a bit cynical, I figured that the hops would be the be-all-end-all of the beer with the actual beer part of the beer being neglected. It was nice to be wrong, at least on the olfactory side of things.

The taste was similarly luscious. Those hops were front and center here with floral and citrus notes being most prominent but there were also a resiny taste and a peppery spiciness to boot. But, as with the aroma, the malt was not totally neglected here with a slighty sweet bread flavor in the background. Moderate carbonation lent a bit of dryness. It had a medium-light body but a slightly lighter mouthfeel owing to all those hops.

Summarillo finished clean and dry as you'd expect from a lager. A piney/resiny bitterness remained on my tongue for a spell while my glass was left with some really fine Schaumhaftvermoegen on all sides along with a large dollop of head at the bottom.

This beer was a most pleasant surprise. As a rule I don't care for India whatever beers because the hops are given free rein to run roughshod over the graininess. Summarillo is certainly a hop forward beer yet the malt is a vital component to the overall flavor and not a fleeting token essence buried deep in the background. I loved how the floral and citrus flavors from the hops combined to taste almost sweet. As I've drunk more gruits I've become appreciative of floral tastes in beer and I think that's a big reason why I liked the Amarillos. Plus Summarillo was hoppy without being extremely bitter which I greatly appreciated. I shall be seeking this beer out next summer and I cannot recall the last time I actually sought out an IPwhatever.

Junk food pairing: Pair Summarillo with Chicken in a Biskit crackers or, for braver souls, try a spicy hot chivda.