What's Hoppening at Earth

You goddamn nerds and your goddamn hoppy beers. You don't know how many times I've heard "give me your hoppiest beer" said to one of our servers. My response is "Fuck that!" but Baker, ever the business savvy man, gives the people what they want. Hops, hops, and more hops. 5 DIPAs on tap right now, and as you can guess, it's my personal version of utter hell. No that's not quite true, he picked some good ones, but it still makes me want to quit.

Sly Fox Odyssey - Hated it. Straight balls to the wall bitter with no attempt made to balance it out. No hop subtleties, no malty backbone, just plain old fucking bitter.

Victory Hop Wallop - Not bad, but not as good as previous years. They toned back on the aroma hops and threw in more bittering, or so it would seem to me. Maybe my palate is just too biased and tinged with smoke anymore. Nice pine and citric notes, but again just too bitter with no balance.

Lancaster Hop Hog - Delicious. Every once in a while (and if you mention this to anyone I will kill you in your sleep) I get in the mood for a hoppy beer, and normally this is the one I grab. It's simple, easy to drink, balanced, and flavorful. My only complaint is that the hop flavor seems kinda one dimensional. Not that that dimension is a bad one, I just want a few more.

Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye - Hated it. Bitter with no balance. Taste like it's stripping the enamel off my teeth. Rye? Where? I would be a happy man if I never drank this crap again.

Russian River Pliney the Elder - This is exactly what the fuck I'm talking about when I say a good, balanced IPA. The malts are not only strong, they are flavorful and complex with caramel, bread, honey, and maybe even some chocolate. Clearly, the hops steal the show and are perfectly used. Not a single bit of bitterness strikes me as I was afraid. Instead, I got gobs of juicy peaches and grapefruits strewn upon my taste buds and I love it. This shows what a west coast IPA can be if the brewer is knowledgeable and understands how to achieve perfect balance. Go Vinnie. Go Russian River. Go Earth.