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I’m a hop-head. Maybe it’s because of my childhood in Boulder, and hops’ relation to cannabis, but I just can’t get enough. I love the smell of them, their bitterness, hell, even their vibrant green. As a hop-head, one of my favorite beer styles is an IPA. When I heard about the “120 Minute IPA” from Dogfish Head, I had to give it a try.

120 Minute IPA is truly pushing the limit of beer. At $10 for one (yes, just one) 12 ounce bottle, it’s a little expensive. At 20% ABV, it’s ungodly strong. With 120 IBU (international bitterness units) it’s intensely bitter - Hazed and Infused only rates 70 IBU. It’s boiled for a full two hours, and hopped for the entire time. It’s then fermented for 30 days, and dry-hopped daily. In order to get that much alcohol, a special breed of yeast is used (there’s no alcohol added). The bottle claims that it can be aged for up to a decade.

Tasting the beer is as intense as it sounds. The beer needs to be warmed a bit - fridge cold is just too cold. When you open it, the aroma of the hops is quite inviting. It pours as a nice amber without an excess of carbonation. The first sip is something that you really can’t be prepared for. The first hit is bitter. Not an “oh my God I ate something poisonous” bitter, but a very clean, yet fairly intense bitterness. That bitterness fades quickly, like the heat from wasabi. After that initial bitterness, the sweetness is quite surprising. In order to get as much alcohol as they did, the brewers had to use a huge amount of malt, and that malt is still quite evident, moreso than the hops. After that initial bitterness, the hops aren’t nearly as pronounced as I would expect. They’re definitely there, and the bitterness isn’t as shocking after the first sip, but they still maintain a level of subtlety that’s surprising in this overwhelming beer.

This is not a beer for beginners, but it’s definitely worth a try for the experienced palate. Yes, it’s expensive, but it’d be nearly impossible for any normal human to drink more than one. The play that the bitter hops, the sweet malt, and the strong alcohol have with each other are an interesting exploration into what beer can actually be. I bought two bottles. The second bottle will be aging next to some intense Belgian ales for a few years to see how the flavors develop with time. The stock in the state (if you can find it) will disappear rapidly, with a second release in the fall, and then the season’s beer will be gone. I give this beer an 8.5.

Memorial Day weekend. The traditional start of summer. Time to grill. Time to make sure the garden’s ready for summer. Time to drink beer.

Well, the garden’s been going since Mother’s day. Most of my tomatoes have survived. The onions are standing up straight. The oregano is trying to take over, the chives are blooming, and the raspberries are 2′ tall. Garden? Check.

Grilling? Heck, we do that all year. But I did smoke a 6# pork shoulder with hickory and a tasty Carolina Red-style crust and sauce. Serve that up with some tasty cole slaw and some strawberry shortcake for dessert, and you’re only missing one thing: the beer.

The beer of choice last evening was the Left Hand Brewery’s JuJu Ginger. It’s a light ale with some of the hops replaced with fresh ginger, and only 4% ABV.

At first glance, I was a little concerned that this was going to be like a ginger ale soda, only with alcohol. While I like ginger ale, that would have been a bit much for me. Fortunately, that isn’t the case with the JuJu.

At first taste, JuJu is a good light ale. It’s got lightly roasted malt, with no bitterness or overt sweetness and a good carbonation level. There is a slight aroma of ginger, but it’s only a hint. The ginger’s taste takes a few seconds to develop, and then fades fairly quickly. Instead of being overwhelmingly gingery, JuJu’s ginger adds a nice refreshing flavor that is subtle enough to remain interesting.

On a hot day, JuJu would be an excellent choice. It’s light and refreshing, and fairly low-alcohol. There’s very little bitterness, and the ginger provides a nicely balanced touch. Overall I give this beer an 8.9.

There are so many tasty beers out there that remain unknown and untasted, which is a travesty. If you like Coors, Bud, or Miller, these words won’t be for you. If you’re Nad, and won’t drink anything that’s not German, these words won’t be for you, either. But, if you’re a beer snob like me, you’ll hopefully enjoy the posts I place in this category.

For the first entry, I bring you W ‘06 (no, not the “President”) from the Widmer Brewing Company of Portland, Oregon.

Unfortunately, while the label (yeah, I judged a beer by its label) held some promise, the beer itself is a bit of a letdown. It starts as a nice ale, with good malt flavors, but then the bitterness sets in. Now, I’m not one who’s afraid of a good hoppy beer. I’ve killed a few cases of Hazed and Infused, and enjoyed every one. A good IPA, with its floral hops, can be a wonderful thing. The W fails in this test because they managed to only capture the bitterness of the hops, without really capturing their floral essence. I’d suspect that this resulted from boiling the wort with the hops for too long.

The bitterness really overwhelms the drinkabililty of what otherwise would have been a fine beer. The malts are well blended, and retain some of their sweetness. The alcohol is well hidden, despite its relatively high 7%. It’s well-fermented, without any of the overfermentation that is risked at that level of alcohol.

Overall, I give W ‘06 a 6.5/10. It’s obviously got a lot of care behind it, but the failures with the hops overpower what would otherwise be an excellent beer.

I’d like to applaud Prime Minister Rasmussen of Denmark, pictured below, for defending the rights of his people to freedom of the press (for a brief synopsis of the subject, read The Rude Pundit’s writeup –the crappy cartoons in question can be found over at Face of Muhammed ). The Danish government is neither condemning nor censoring the stupid cartoons in question, thereby not caving under pressure from religious groups (as we do).

Since at least Iran and Saudi Arabia have begun boycotting Denmark, might I call upon all flatearthers to offset the boycott by picking up some Danish brews , chocolates, or cookies?

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen

P.S. On a lark, I went looking for an anti-christian cartoon, being the equal opportunity offender that I am…there’s just not much out there.