Beer tasting with Belching Beaver Brewery & Clown Shoes Brewery: West Coast meets East Coast at Holiday Wine Cellar, on Friday, 2/19 from 4:00 – 7:00 PST.
The Belching Beaver & Clown Shoes: West Coast meets East Coast beer tasting is this Friday! (2/19–click here to hold your spot for 10 tasters + a pint glass to take home for ONLY $10) Not only do we host public beer tastings, but our staff tastes every beer that comes through our doors to ensure it’s worth your tastebuds’ time!
Beer Tasting: IPAs
This past Friday night (2/12), our closing staff sampled 6 IPAs side-by-side, to see which was the best representation of style and overall tastiness.
IPAs are a very popular beer style that has helped place San Diego on the beer map. Characterized by a sweet malt presence and an aggressive hopping with earthy and fruity flavors while finishing dry. Here’s the lineup:
- Bell’s Brewery HopSlam – Double IPA Brewed with Honey – 10% ABV
- Beachwood Brewing Melrose – West Coast IPA – 7.1% ABV
- Avery Maharaja – Imperial IPA – 10.2% ABV
- Ground Breaker IPA No 5 – Gluten Free IPA – 6% ABV
- Mother Earth Primordial – Imperial IPA – 10% ABV
- Hop Concept Dank and Sticky – Double IPA – 8.5% ABV
The Results:
Overall, we placed Beachwood Melrose as the #1 spot, because it had an oily mouthfeel with an aggressive, yet smooth citrus/pine. Mother Earth Primordial had a great balance of malt and hops, with fruity melon flavor. Avery Maharaja was the most aggressive in terms of bitterness and booziness. The Hop Concept’s Dank & Sticky was easily the most drinkable IPA of the lineup. Bell’s HopSlam was the sweetest IPA we sampled, although the 10% ABV was hardly noticeable. Lastly, we have Ground Breaker’s IPA No 5. We all agreed that if we were served this one blind, we wouldn’t’ve know that it was gluten-free!
(L-R) Ground Breaker IPA No 5, Bell’s Brewery HopSlam, Hop Concept Dank and Sticky, Avery Maharaja, Mother Earth Primordial & Beachwood Brewing Melrose.
All of these IPAs were great beers! Tastes can vary, so give one of these tasty brews a try and let us know how they stack up!
