I was at a conference two and a half years
ago. The morning of the first day
of the conference was filled with a particularly long and grueling
meeting. When lunch finally rolled
around, I needed a break from the conference and a beverage, so I walked from
the convention center to a conveniently located bar.
While looking through the drink menu, I saw a
new beer from a local brewery that I had not seen before: Hop Rising by Squatters. I didn’t know anything about it, so I
ordered it.
When I first looked at the bottle, I was a bit
skeptical on whether I would like it or not. It was an Imperial IPA. I wasn’t much of a fan of the IPA style genre. My general impression at the time is
that too many PAs and IPAs are over C-hopped, too citrusy, too piney, and unbalanced.
To my wonderment and surprise, I loved this
beer. The first IPA that I really
liked. It’s a 9% beer with 75
IBUs. But the thing is, it isn’t
an overpowering flavor and isn’t the same-old IPA hops that everyone uses. It packs in Amarillo, Cascade and
Chinook.
