How to Drink an IPA, One Hop Flavor at a Time

If you ’re a buff of modern , American IPAs ( PBR drinker : Go remain firm in the niche ) then you are no doubt a friendly conversant of hops , the magical bud that gives beer its bitter bite . But with hundreds of hop miscellany and some brews using upward of a dozen of them , it ’s hard to sleep with which hops are imparting which savor unto your beer .

So Sam Adams is doing something pretty coolheaded . It ’s accept its Latitude 48 IPA — which contains five dissimilar striving of hop — and is releasing a variety of beer flight . They ’re calling it Latitude 48 Deconstructed . It contains not just the Latitude 48 you ( perhaps ) know and ( credibly ) love , but five other beer , brew exactly the same way , but each arrest just one of the hops separate out . It gives beer aficionados the rarefied opportunity to experience these hop one at a time and see exactly where their favored flavour come from .

It ’s Friday good afternoon , you ’ve made it through the long calendar week , and it ’s sentence forHappy Hour , Gizmodo ’s hebdomadary booze pillar . A cocktail mover and shaker full of innovation , science , and alcoholic beverage . We ’re get tipsy under a microscope .

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Jumping into Hops

For those of you not yet familiar with this adorable plant , here ’s an extremely brief overview . It is believe that hop have been a part of the beer - brewing process since the 8th C in Europe , if not early . Why was it first added ? We have no idea . perhaps because beer was unbearably sweet at the time , and a little bitterness helped to equilibrate it out . However , the understanding it continued to be used in beer yield is jolly clean : It turn out to be a selectiveantibacterial broker . It happens to do a jolly good problem fighting bacteria that spoils beer , but it leaves the good bacteria ( i.e. brewer ’s yeast , which is critical for ferment ) alone .

For the most part , hops were used in not - so - heavy quantities — hell on earth , even Budweiser has hops in it . But it was n’t until British soldiers living in India developed a taste for extremely - hop pale ales ( likely hopped that heavily to prevent spoil in the high Native American heat ) that the term IPA ( India Pale Ale ) was born . soldier who maturate fond of the poppycock while in the military service returned home and wanted more , and so IPAs grew in popularity there , too .

Hop Science

The part of the hopsthat goes into the beerare the bud ( sometimes call cone ) from the distaff plant . This should sound all - too - familiar to advanced - grade pothead out there , and truly so : The most significant bit is in the resinous stuff within these bud .

hop add flavor , scent , and of course , gall . This happens almost entirely through two factor region in the resin : Alpha window pane and beta acids . The alpha acids are the big contributor to that classic hoppy flavor , and it ’s also where the antibacterial properties amount from . The beta acid loosely do more to influence the beer ’s aroma .

What ’s pregnant is that , again as with marijuana , different strain of the hop industrial plant develop bud with importantly different chemical make-up . Some will have a much higher alpha - to - genus Beta dot ratio . With others , it ’ll be more balanced . Some will have harder - to - measure characteristic ( “ Do I smell grapefruit ? ” ) . As we learned with our “ hop of the future , ” growers indue a substantial amount of time , energy , and resource into spring up what they go for will be the next big thing in hops . They ( and brewer ) are looking for the proper compounding of aromas and flavors that will add an exciting new dimension to their beer .

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Hops like to grow in temperate , moist climate . It just so happens that those climates are often found at the 48th parallel compass north , aka line of latitude 48 . This banding cuts through parts of the northern U.S. , the UK , Germany , and even parts of Asia . It ’s from agriculturalist along this line that Sam Adams peck the five variety of hops that it uses in Latitude 48 , hence the name .

Flavors the Span the Globe

Latitude 48 Deconstructed come in a 12 - multitude . In it you ’ll find two bottle of beer made with each type of hops and two of the complete Latitude 48s which take a portmanteau of all five . Sam Adams sent me some , so I invited a couple beer - geek - friend over and we had ourselves a small , loose tasting .

Number one was East Kent Goldings IPA from East Kent , UK . This one definitely had pleasant , earthy rancour to it . Very easy , very smooth , but none of that discriminating , punch - to - the - mouth that ’s usually associated with , say , a West Coast IPA . This was more understated . Y’know , in a British kind of way .

Next up was the Mosaic IPA , using Mosaic hop from the Yakima Valley in Washington State . This is a new addition to Latitude 48 this year . This one was extremely well - balanced . It has a lot of those citrusy notes that we ’ve started to associate with American IPAs , but again , it ’s not a boot to the jaw . It tastes very fresh , and the bitter is never overwhelming , even in the aftertaste .

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Number three is Hallertau Mittelfrueh IPA , from Bavaria , Germany . While physically unimaginable to enounce without an supererogatory larynx , its look are super familiar , and with skilful reason . The Hallertau region boasts the first documentation of cultivating hops in recorded history — right smart back in the year 736 — and you ’ll happen them in all kinds of beer , including laager , pilsners , and yes , Bud . And you could see why when you taste it . This strain belongs to a family make out as “ noble hops , ” which are characterized by being gamy on fragrance and low on bitterness .

My friends and I all remarked on how smooth and caramel - y it taste . It takes much more of a backseat use . My protagonist Jim call it “ the Miller High Life of IPAs , ” but he did n’t signify that in a bad elbow room . Definitely the least biting of the variety . Very drinkable , with no flavors that hang around excessively long .

turn four was Simcoe IPA from Yakima Valley , WA and — oh yeah — we are most definitely drink a West Coast IPA now . It ’s sweet . It ’s very American . It hits you in the mouth the right way at the root . It ’s take that Citrus paradisi rind and a little bit of pine resin . It ’s definitely the strong flavor of the five , but if you go for West Coast IPAs , you ’d probably be into it . Indeed , Simcoe has been among the most democratic record hop varieties on the West Coast trade brew tantrum .

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And bring in us home in number five is Zeus IPA , also from Yakima Valley . Like its namesake , it ’s big and secure . It packs a punch , but it ’s still very tonic somehow . There ’s a little moment of that lingering burnt flavor on the aftertaste , but it ’s extremely light on the front - end . Definite true pine , definite resin . My sidekick Paul articulate it reminded him of play baseball . While it emphatically take a impact , we all found it very drinkable .

Bringing It All Together

Finally , we hit the straight - up Latitude 48 IPA . We all agree that like Jeff Lebowski ’s carpeting , it really tie everything together nicely . It ’s exceedingly well - balanced . It has the West Coast bite , but it stay fresh run . With the other beer some would be front loaded , some would hit you in the middle , and some would linger at the last . With the final portmanteau word , it ’s a uninterrupted hop drive from scratch line to finish . It ’s almost certainly not a 20/20/20/20/20 percent mixture , but deciphering what ratios are used in the last product is well beyond my pay grade .

That ’s not to say that the flavors do n’t change , though . They do , but it ’s on the pernicious side . You ’ll trance the unlike characteristic ( grass , orange , pine tree , weed , etc . ) ebbing and flowing . It ’s aggressive , though . It ’s the kind of beer you require to toast after a Warren E. Burger ; It would trim back right through the grease .

We all agree that the final destination was good — very good even — but we also felt that arrive there was kind of more sport . We each had beers along the way that we liked a lot , and while it was cool to see how they all blended together in the end , some of the nuances got miss . It ’s a snatch like tope a individual malt liquor versus drinking a blended Scotch . Are there proficient blend out there ? Sure , but some of the single equipment characteristic get lose in the mix . Had we started with this , perhaps we would have dug it even more .

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All that said , is this a really fun adventure for beer swot ? Hell yes it is . I ’ve never been able to know something like this . On newspaper , the beers ’ formula would all take care the same . The only real remainder is the line of hop out of Ye Olde Greate Hoppe lineage that ’s being used , and the difference are really stark . I ’d bang to see other breweries jump on this bandwagon .

Sam Adams Latitude 48 Deconstructed is currently available nationwide ( in the U.S. ) , but just for a limited sentence . The twelve - battalion will run you between $ 14 and $ 19 bucks , depending on where you buy it . For a unique drinking experience like this , for you and a acquaintance or two , we ’d say it ’s by all odds well worth it . [ Sam Adams ]

[ Big thanks toJim KaneandPaul Keanyfor facilitate me drink beer . I have it away I enquire a lot of you . ]

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