Thornbridge - Jaipur India Pale Ale

Dead Soldier

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer
Jaipur India Pale Ale
Thornbridge Brewery
Riverside Brewery
Buxton Road

Bakewell, Derbyshire England
Est. 2005
www.thornbridgebrewery.co.uk


Brain Damage Quotient = 5.9 % ABV

Fluid Oz. = 16.9


Postmortem Brew Review
Unfiltered golden yellow color.
Some citrus hops and honey aromas. Malts are subdued, but sustained in strength.
Two finger, off white head on pour.

Good amount of stringy lacing down the side of the glass.
Hops and malts are well balanced. Honey flavor is mild and enticing. Hops surge in bitterness moments after the sip.
Medium bodied. Well balanced with plenty of flavor. Easy to drink.


Grim Reaper's Eulogy
It was a great day when I discovered this bottle of Thornbridge's Jaipur IPA. I'm a big fan of the BBC hit show Top Gear. One of the show's principle hosts, James May, has gone on to appear in a few other interesting shows including a mini-series called, "Oz and James Drink to Britain". The show came about after they had done a couple of wine tasting mini-series, where Oz tries his best to educate James on the finer points of wine and wine making.


During the beer series, James tries to turn the tables on Oz. One episode in particular was based upon a Yorkshire pub crawl, via train through the central British countryside. In a comical respite during the pub crawl, James and Oz sample this very IPA by Thornbridge. During the crawl, James counters the droning of Oz Clarke, a noted wine connoisseur, about the differences between wine and beer. As they begin their crawl at the first railway station pub, James puts Oz in his place by declaring: 

"Beer is a simple drink for people who want to get on with something useful. I'ts not a philospher's drink - - - it's not like wine. French people drink wine and sit there, then comtemplate the meaning of a teacup. British people drink beer to slake the thirst they've built up from building things. It's ridiculous, right?" --- James May

Not ridiculous at all. James is dead right, if you'll forgive the morbid pun. Muahaahaahaa! Oz eventually goes on to guess correctly that it's Jaipur, but the point sticks with him through the trip. Oz admits that James might be on to something.


Do enjoy this fine British IPA. Might I suggest watching all of the episodes whilst doing so? You will see that Oz will make a believer out of James in noting the finer qualities of well built ales. Of course, James will keep his 'wine-ponce' friend Oz in check with cheeky remarks on their journey to appreciation of well crafted ales.


PS - The train pub crawl is now on The Reaper's official "bucket list".

Brooklyn - East India Pale Ale

Dead Soldier

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer

East India Pale Ale

Brooklyn Brewery

#1 Brewers Row

79 North 11th Street

Brooklyn , NY USA

Est. 1988

www.brooklynbrewery.com

Brain Damage Quotient = 6.9 % ABV

Fluid Oz. = 12.0 

Postmortem Brew Review

Deep amber gold color.

Carmel malt and some floral hops brightness in aroma.
Off white foaming head goes to about one finger high.

Great streaked lacing up and down the glass.

Malty  and grassy taste mixed with a slight hint of citrus; very tasty.

Light carbonation.
Light to medium bodied mouth feel. 

Grim Reaper's Eulogy

Brooklyn does their IPA in the English style which is flavorful, but as the British say, "...not my cup of tea." I have grown accustomed to the American versions and the different hop varieties they bring to bear in flavor. I found the beer to be drier and lighter than most tried. Just my personal taste interjection and by no means a knock on the brewer. Let's face it, I couldn't brew anything near half as good as this at home with my paltry experience. But let's say for an English Style, it is close to the mark of what the Brits find in their IPA's.

While this is certainly a noble beverage, I will take a pass as IPA's go in my taste book.

St. Peter's India Pale Ale

Dead Soldier

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer

St. Peter's India Pale Ale

St. Peter’s Brewery Co. Ltd

St. Peter’s Hall, St. Peter South Elmham

Bungay, Suffolk, England

Est.1996

www.stpetersbrewery.co.uk

Brain Damage Quotient = 4.9 % ABV

Fluid Oz. = 16.9 

Postmortem Brew Review

Clear brown colored beer with nice maroon color when held up to the light.
Normal sized tan head.
Light smell of hops and toffee with dark roasted maltiness.
Tastes slightly sweet with a big taste of malt in the finish.
Mild grain flavor and a hint of coffee.

Grim Reaper's Eulogy
Haven't had a St. Peter's brew in awhile.  A couple of their other styles had been tucked into the original coffin from back in the day, when this blog formed. So when I spotted this IPA in the display case, I chose to give it a try. Now I like my IPA's as well as the next person, and I'm also fully aware that the British created the style for their troops in India. Masters of the art, and so forth and all...harumph, harumph!  But since I've been sampling and enjoying American IPA's, it seemed that this beer lacked that west coast hops punch we all look for in and India Pale Ale. True that the hops are a different than I'm accustomed to, and more pungent in their 'bittering'.  Sadly, not to my liking.

Add to that, the bottle was slightly 'skunked', most likely from the export/import process and the evident and abundant green glass in this 16+ ounce bottle. Too bad, cause the other from their stable proved to be so tasty. I shall look for this one again in the future and try to compare if the taste was due to improper handling procedures.

They still have my vote, but unfortunately, not at the moment regarding this IPA.

Left Hand - 400 Pound Monkey

Dead Monkey

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer
Left Hand - 400 Pound Monkey
Left Hand Brewing Company
1265 Boston Avenue
Longmont, CO USA
Est. 1994
www.lefthandbrewing.com 

Brain Damage Quotient = 6.7 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 12.0 

Postmortem Brew Review
Translucent soft golden color.
Light hops aroma. Notes of apple? Something astringent in flavor.
Off-white, two finger head that covers to a wisp.
Draped lacing down the side of the glass.
Soft hops taste with a very dry hop finish.
Light carbonation with tightly packed champagne like bubbles.
Light to medium bodied mouth feel; pleasantly warming aftertaste. 

Grim Reaper's Eulogy
Ringo Starr's/Beatles "With a Little Help From My Friends" is now resonating in the speakers and my head.

This election night, I decided to put out an instant vote between three beers, using Twitter. This was the winner. As usual in the election process, there were runoffs, tie votes, attempts to bribe the elector-at-charge et al. Also as in real life, it came down to the flip of a coin to decide the 'left handed' victory.  And a 400 Pound Monkey beat a Loose Cannon and some Turtle with a Gamma Ray, into office. Go figure- - -it's art imitating life, or is it the other way around?

This is a pleasant English style IPA, but unlike American IPA's, it hasn't got enough punch of hops to knock out a hanging chad. But a tip of the hat to the British style...at 6.7 ABV, it does have some alcohol warmth. A little drying on the tongue and a bit acidic. Feeling the buzz right now...hard race fought....election won....must be the champagne like bubbles in the head! Where are the balloons, confetti and streamers?

Many thanks to my constituents for getting out to vote:
@AGirlandHerBeer
@EmpireVanessa
@AlanCShaw
@BeerCruiser
@MrBikerBrew
@htcdesign

@MugOfStArnold will need an absentee ballot next time!  That was fun. We'll have to try putting it to a vote more often. Thanks guys!