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How about a page/thread whereupon we can pass comment on craftbeers we've consumed? I bought one a few days ago that I'd like to pass it along that even though it's an Imperial IPA by New Belgium, it has no color to be an IPA and falls abysmally short in the Taste Department. $11 shot to helsinki...

New Belgium VooDoo Ranger; Juice Force IPA; Hazy Imperial IPA, 9.5% alcool; poor color; no IBU given. My opinion: Don't buy this beer; not much better than a can of horsepixx by Budweiser, Miller or Coors.
 
Hop Valley Brewing Company; Stash Bandicoot; Hazy Imperial IPA, 8% alcool; 61 IBU. My opinion: Definitely buy this beer. Good an' hoppy, as an IPA ought to be. Satisfyingly bitter and abundantly tasteful. Comes to you in a 19.2-ounce can to provide 60% more deliciousness than a 12-ounce bottle can deliver to you. This is a really good beer. Hop Valley deserves both accolades and new customers for what they've done for America's beer drinkers...
 
Due to a confluence of circumstances, I no longer consume alcohol. When I did my strong preference was always for bachs, and lagers. Koestritzer was a frequent favorite, as well as Sierra Madre brewing had a very good doppelbach, unfortunately, they've been gone for nearly 20 years at this point.
 
New Belgium Hop Raider IPA. An excellent IPA in my opinion. 8.1% alcohol. No IBU provided on the cans nor on the six-pack box, but it's good an' hoppy. I'd guess around 50-some. If you're an IPA drinker like me, this will be a good choice for you. Pours a nice head that goes down fairly quickly so you can get at it sooner. Laces well. Certainly worth a try...
 
Sierra Nevada Atomic Torpedo Juicy West Coast Double IPA. Really, really good. Good an' hoppy. 8.2% alcohol. No IBU supplied; I'd guess mid-50s. Not too much head foam and didn't show much carbonation in the glass. I drank my 19.2-ounce can rather quickly, and I'm feelin' it already. A good beer, I'd say. Try it. May only be available as a single-can purchase. I'd buy a six-pack if it's available that way. Two would get me wanting to lay down in bed and wait for sleep...
 
Boneyard Beer Hop Venom Double IPA. 9.0% alcohol. No IBU given but I'd opine it's somewhere in the low 60s. It's very hop-forward. Pours a good head; disappears fairly quickly so you can get to it soon after the pour. Has a medium color-- not a shade pushing toward orange as I prefer. Laces quite well. I recommend this brew to frequent drinkers of IPAs.
 
Had a somewhat lengthy post very nearly completed. Inadvertently touched an unknown key that obliterated everything I'd written. No ambition to attempt to recreate the idea and mood. I'm a hunt-and-peck typer. Never learned to touchtype. Been doing it the old-fashioned way for decades, so I know where is every key and I'm not overly slow at it. What was lost wasn't Tolstoy's War and Peace, so no tears need be shed. Just bums me out that what I wrote, infinitesimal as it might have been, was never able to be read by anyone who might be interested in drinking good beer...
 
Had a somewhat lengthy post very nearly completed. Inadvertently touched an unknown key that obliterated everything I'd written. No ambition to attempt to recreate the idea and mood. I'm a hunt-and-peck typer. Never learned to touchtype. Been doing it the old-fashioned way for decades, so I know where is every key and I'm not overly slow at it. What was lost wasn't Tolstoy's War and Peace, so no tears need be shed. Just bums me out that what I wrote, infinitesimal as it might have been, was never able to be read by anyone who might be interested in drinking good beer...
Pouring one out now for the post that was lost
 
Pouring one out now for the post that was lost.
Thank you. I appreciate that...

Found a Salt Flats Brewing Company Slipstream Double IPA with 9-point-something alcohol by volume and an IBU rating of 75. Massively tasty! Their Kilted Harley claims to be a Scottish Ale. I found it to have a "sharp taste" to it. I didn't like it at all, but suffered through drinking six cans of it in about two days. I shall never buy it again.

Dust Bowl Brewing Company offers Hops of Wrath IPA. 6.6% alcool; no IBU given. Still a dam-ned good beer. My local Raley's was having a sale: Buy any three four-packs or six-packs, get the fourth one for a single cent. How could I resist?

Sierra Nevada offers Celebration Fresh Hop Ale. Was once just a seasonal, but I guess people liked it so much that SN now makes it year-round. Worthy of a six-pack purchase if you're a drinker of IPA-style beers.
 
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Two, today...

Knee-deep Brewing Company offers their Deep Clarity IPA. 6.5% alcohol by volume; 36 IBU. I had high hopes for this brew. The aroma upon crackin' one open is dam-ned good: Strong "IPA aroma." Tastes dam-ned good upon drinking it, too. It fails on the finish: The flavor drops away to zero and it tastes like you're drinking a Miller Lite instead of a craftbeer at $10 per six-pack. I'll not buy this beer, again.

Lagunitas Brewing Company offers their MAXIMUS Colossal IPA. 9.0% alcohol by volume and 60 IBU. Now, that's hoppy! Good medium color: not too dark; not too light. A really good beer. Great IPA aroma. Hop-forward and the flavor stays as it goes across the bottom of your tongue. Comes in 19.2-ounce cans ($3.00) at Raley's, but may be also available in 12-ounce cans. I didn't see any, but surely...

Buy this Lagunitas beer. As an IPA drinker, I say it's dam-ned good. Pours a good head that stays a while. Laces well. A man who appreciates good beer should really like this one...
 
Knee Deep is some good stuff
I can't agree because I've only had the one six-pack of Deep Clarity IPA. I like a beer that's malty, hoppy and has good "mouthfeel." This particular IPA by Knee Deep starts the race well, but fades quickly into tasting like the horsepish that is a beer costing less than twenty bucks for thirty cans at Walmart.

My Raley's is stocking a bunch of new craftbeers I've never before seen. My limit is around ten bucks per six-pack, and only one purchase per every seven to ten days. Being a truck driver and having to stay away from alcohol for a minimum of twelve hours before going on-duty, it's not too difficult to make a six-pack live in the icebox for the aforementioned seven days.
 
Went to Total Wine and More in Reno, yesterday. I was beyond amazed with how many craftbeers they have to offer. I'm an IPA drinker and after careful consideration, selected a six-pack of 21st Amendment Brewery's Brew Free or Die IPA. Alcohol is 6.8 percent; IBU is rated at 65. I had huge hopes for this beer. I drank one can that wasn't overly chilled, and found the initial washing-over of the tongue to be kinda sweet. I figgered I needed to let the remaining cans get cold in order to deliver the best taste, so I let them enjoy the night until this morning. Had one this morning and found the forwardness of the hops to be so great that the beer was bitter-- not malty and hoppy as we'd expect. Just had another and the excessive hoppiness really does take this brew down a notch or two. It's no Salt Flats Brewing Company Slipstream Double IPA, that's for sure. I think the makers of Brew Free or Die IPA wanted a beer with a lot of hops, maybe to set theirs apart from other brewers. In my opinion, they overdid it: Too much hops, leading to a bitter taste. The color is also nuthin' much: Too light for an IPA. I have three more cans of this to suffer, then never again...
 
Tried another one in a 19.2-ounce can: Rogue Ales from Newport, Oregon. Their Colossal Claude Imperial India Pale Ale is dam-ned good! Boasts 8.2 percent alcohol and an IBU rating of 75. Even at that level of bitterness, it's a better drink than was the Brew Free or Die! IPA by 21st Amendment Brewery (which stated its IBU to be 65). About all I can say is that 21st Amendment must have used a more bitter hop than did Rogue Ales. I struggled to get through the six-pack of Brew Free or Die! while the one can of Colossal Claude was a pleasure from the pour to the last sip. I would like to see Colossal Claude in twelve-ounce six-packs because three bucks per can is too dam-ned much to pay even for a beer this good...
 
Found this one at my local Raley's: Farmers Brewing Company of Princeton, CA Sunup 'til Sundown Session IPA. Exceptionally good at 5.8% alcohol; the real treat is it's just 39 IBU. IPAs are usually brewed to be 60-some to 70-some IBU. I like a good an' hoppy IPA, but I could certainly drink this concoction for as long as Raley's carries it. The package says it's an easy-drinkin' IPA; I will have to agree. For the few who don't like an overly bitter/hoppy IPA, this one will do it for you. I'm giving this one two thumbs up!
 
Sierra Nevada Big Little Thing Imperial IPA. A touch higher in alcohol than most beers at 9.0 percent, but really shines with its 45 IBU bitterness rating. Imperial (or Double) IPAs are usually up there with 50, 60 and even over 70 IBU ratings. Some people don't like an aggressively bitter IPA; nothing wrong with that. This offering by Sierra Nevada is both tasty while not being overly bitter. Good maltiness; good mouthfeel. Pours a nice head. Should be available just about everywhere serious craftbeers are sold. I paid a measly $10 for my six-pack at Walmart. I would definitely buy this brew again...
 
I have been remiss in the reviews of beers I've recently consumed. I have a bunch, today...

Alaskan Brewing Company Chillin' Cold IPA. A limited release beer at 6.0 percent ABV, and an IBU rating of 55. You'd think this would be a good beer but, in my opinion, it isn't worth the purchase of a second six-pack. It doesn't have much color to it for an IPA and the hoppy flavor just isn't there. Not much of a head and it doesn't stay around long enough to admire it for a bit.

New Belgium Accumulation IPA. A hazy IPA at 6.5% ABV and 70 IBU. I expected good results with such a respectable bitterness, but again, very little color for an IPA and a sorrowful lack of malty and hoppy flavor. Won't be buying this one a second time.

Stone Brewing Hazy IPA. The can claims this brew is "an amazingly hazy IPA." Offers-up 6.7% ABV and 35 IBU. Sorry, Stone, but this is another one that has no color for an IPA, no flavor, no maltiness, its head disappears in a few quick seconds and it just doesn't satisfy (me) as an IPA. Won't be buying this one again, either.

Lagunitas StereoHopic "Hop Pairings; Volume 6." Limited Release. 7.2% ABV and 65 IBU. I had this one so long ago that I've forgotten my immediate impression. I have consumed other Lagunitas products and they were dam-ned good, so I would risk a repeat of this one to present a more-informative review.

I'm seeing so many beers that holler about being "tropical, juicy" and "fruity." Maybe I'm stuck in the 18th Century, but I like malty brews with some forward hoppiness. Tropical and fruity drinks work at breakfast with orange juice-- not with beer. Maybe I'm the odd man out...

Pigeon Head Brewery Fly By Night India Pale Ale. Brewed and canned in Reno, Nevada. 6.7% ABV and 37 IBU. Good color. Good flavor. Minimal head. I'm rating it "Not too bad." These guys are putting their money in the beer as opposed to the packaging. The can is labeled with a paper label on an un-anodized aluminum can. Much cheaper than printing an aluminum can. Purchased as a single 16-ounce can from Total Wine and Beverage on Virginia Street toward the south side of town. I'd buy this one again.

Deschutes Brewery Fresh-Squeezed IPA. Not very malty; has kind of a "sour, harsh taste" to it. Good head, but short-lived. Has a good color for an IPA. 6.4% ABV and 60 IBU. This beer is conditioned in the can, meaning live yeast was put in when the beer was canned. This liberates "floaters" when it's poured into your glass, meaning small pieces of sedimentary dead yeast find their way into what you'll drink. Dead yeast tastes terrible...

Lost Coast Brewery Sharkinator White IPA. 4.8% ABV and 40 IBU. Another alleged IPA that English soldiers in India would not be drinking during the years that England occupied India. I won't be buying a second six-pack.

Samuel Adams Winter Lager. Claims to be festive and smooth. 5.6% ABV and a paltry 22 IBU. Fresh, with a label advising consumption before May 2023. So unremarkable that I wrote no remarks on the label to jog my memory. Bought just this one bottle at Total Wine and Beverage; won't buy a second. At least it had a pry-off crown...

Deschutes Brewery Black Butte Porter. I was a Porter guy before I discovered IPAs. I still drink Porters now & then, but it's the IPAs for which I am eternally searching. This one has 5.5% ABV and 30 IBU. Low carbonation; minimal head. Good, "roasty" flavor. I will recommend you try one of these just because I'm a Porter guy from years and years ago.
 
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I've been remiss in posting-up the beers I've consumed since my last post of April 11. I have close to a dozen; have made notes directly on the cans so I'd not forget my thoughts during consumption. I've been working and feel like I've been run-over by a bus dam-ned near every day. I am also concerned that I'll write a lengthy post, then touch the Mystery Key and my words will disappear in their entirety. It's already happened once in this thread...
 

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