Epic Brewing Spiral Jetty IPA

Epic Brewing's Classic Series IPA - Spiral Jetty,named after the sculpture built in the Great Salt Lake by Robert Smithson (thepinkness of the water in the photo is from naturally occurring sulfur bacteriain the north arm of the Great Salt Lake).

Epic is currently my favorite local brewer.  When the Utah changed their lawsallowing for breweries to sell greater than 4.0% ABV beer direct from thebreweries, it changed the landscape of the beer scene.  Some breweries seemed thrive on thechange, while others seem to have lagged behind.

Epic came on the scene shortly after the change inthe law went into effect.  Theirbrewing philosophy is that they will only brew greater then 4.0% ABV beers.  I believe that their lowest strengthbeer is the Mid Mountain Mild at 4.5% to 5% ABV.

I’m not a big IPA drinker.  I know, it’s a sin to say it on IPA Day2012.  But it’s true.  It is rare that I find an IPA that Ilike.  For similar beers, I tend tofavor its bigger brother, the Imperial IPA.   In order to get the higher ABVs of IIPAs, brewers tendto use a maltier backbone and more residual sweetness is left in the beer.

Its even more rare for me to find a simcoe hoppedIPA that I like.  I know, another heresy.  But it is also true:  I don’t like a lot of pine flavor in myfood or drinks.

This beer has an excellent copper color and thehops highlight  citrus, piney, andfloral flavors and aroma.

I should mention that I have a little bit ofdifficulty differentiating between bittering “flavor” hops and dry “aroma”hops.  I tend to taste themboth.  Aroma hops come in softerwaves than flavor hops.

Epic Brewing has three other variations on thisbeer:  (Elevated Series) CopperCone Pale Ale, (Elevated Series) Hopulent IPA, and (Exponential Series)Imperial IPA.  Copper Conetypically ranges from 6% to 7%ABV and I tend to think of it as a Pale Ale Extra– meaning half way between a Pale Ale and an IPA in hopping.

Hopulent IPA weighs in at 8 to 9% and averages closeto a pound of dry hops per barrel (31 US gallons).  It is much more of an aggressive beer than either SpiralJetty or Copper Cone.

There aren’t many of Epic’s beers that I haven’thad the pleasure of trying.  TheExponential Series Imperial IPA is one of them.  Rest assured, I will steadily working my way through theirlist of beers