My first post on my first blog! It’s destined to be a predictably awkward affair but I ask for your patience. Our relationship will deepen and mature and we will both look back on these initial posts with a sweet nostalgia, remembering our cute naïveté.
Let’s start with the fun stuff. Politics… no… Beer! Aw crap! Ok, despite the excitement and absolutely bizarre tv ads and talking points surrounding the upcoming November 2010 midterms, let’s do beer.
I’m not gonna do the whole Appearance, Smell, Taste, Mouhfeel and Drinkability thing. Plenty of others do a great job of that (see beeradvocate.com). I like to drink a good beer and let the flavors kick my taste buds’ ass (?) and send me into a trippy daydream (not to be confused with being drunk, seriously!). This is my experience of beer. Take it for what it is.
This first one’s a doozy. It’s Founders Centennial’s IPA poured from a 12oz bottle.
I’m a HUGE IPA fan, mostly American IPA but there are some great English IPA out there too. This is American, über Patriotic! Did I mention I’m an immigrant? Irish actually, born and bred, didn’t move stateside until I turned 23. I digress. Cennential’s IPA is a spiky, crazy aromatic brew. It hits you in the nose and fills it with hoppy goodness. It coats your tongue with malty sweetness along with some subtle citrus notes then the bitterness kicks right back in and lights up the tongue with overwhelming hop flavor.
Centennial is no sexy brew, there’s nothing that seems clever or exceptionally creative. It doesn’t reinvent the IPA, instead it reinforces all that makes IPA such a wonderful style.
It’s decently complex but well balanced and not nearly as heavy as the 7.2% would suggest. Definitely get one!
I love it when breweries have good t-shirts, Founders has a decent selection.
Slainté!