Beer & Cookie Pairings: IPA & Ginger Snaps

The Second Beer of Christmas 2022

Beer: 60 Minute IPA Brewer: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Location: Milton, DE Website: https://www.dogfish.com/ Style: IPA ABV: 6.0%

Cookies: Ginger Snaps from the Slaton Bakery and Chocolate Chip from United Supermarkets

Grapefruit Sculpin - Ballast Point Brewing

The Ninth Beer of Christmas 2018 is Grapefruit Sculpin by Ballast Point Brewing in San Diego, California.

Summary

• Appearance: Hazy gold orange, big bubble foam
• Aroma: Grapefruit, mineral, lemon zest
• Taste: Grapefruit throughout, piney hops at the end, a bit of sweet malt
• Feel: medium body, moderate carbonation, smooth feel

Stats

• Brewer: Ballast Point Brewing Company
• Location: San Diego, California
• Website: https://www.ballastpoint.com
• Fruit: Grapefruit
• Style: IPA
• Alcohol Content: 7.0%

Mozango - Lagunitas Brewing

The Seventh Beer of Christmas 2018 is Mozango from Lagunitas Brewing in Petaluma, California.

Summary

• Appearance: Crystal clear, medium gold, large head
• Smell: Mango and piney hops
• Taste: Sweet mango, lemon zest, hoppy aftertaste
• Finish: Medium carbonation, medium body, quick finish with a light hoppy aftertaste

Stats

• Brewer: Lagunitas Brewing Company
• Location: Petaluma, California
• Website: https://lagunitas.com/
• Fruit: Mango
• Style: American IPA
• Alcohol Content: 7.7%

Tangerine Express IPA - Stone Brewing

The Third Beer of Christmas 2018 is Tangerine Express IPA from Stone Brewing in Escondido, California.

Summary

• Appearance: Coppery yellow with a big head of white bubbles
• Aroma: Citrus, hops, and tangerine
• Taste: An assertive IPA with clementine rind
• Feel: Medium body, medium carbonation

Stats

• Brewer: Stone Brewing
• Location: Escondido, California
• Website: https://www.stonebrewing.com/
• Fruit: Tangerine
• Style: India Pale Ale
• Alcohol Content: 6.7%

Independence Brewing - Stash IPA

The FifthBeer of Christmas 2017 is Stash IPA from Independence Brewing in Austin, Texas.

Summary
A funky IPA with lots of hops balanced by lots of malt.

Make a donation to their Service Dog program here: http://independencebrewing.com/servicedogs

• Appearance: Almost a fluorescent yellow
• Aroma: Grassy with pine & green onion, a little funk
• Taste: Citrus, grass, grapefruit rind
• Feel: Medium body, oily, hides the 7% alcohol

Stats

• Brewer: Hops & Grain Brewing
• Location: Austin, Texas
• Website: http://independencebrewing.com/
• Style: India Pale Ale
• Alcohol Content: 7.0% ABV

Dogfish Head - 60 Minute IPA

The Fifth Beer of Christmas for 2016 is Dogfish Head Craft Brewery 60 Minute IPA:

Summary
A delicious IPA that's sessionable. It's not a lightweight IPA and it not for beginners, but it's also not a heavyweight like their 90 Minute IPA or their 120 Minute IPA.

Stats
Brewer: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
Location: Milton, Delaware
Website: https://www.Dogfish.com/
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Alcohol Content: 6.0% ABV

Lagunitas Brewing Co. - A Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale

For the Eleventh Beer of Christmas, I opened a big ol' beer.

Lagunitas Brewing Co.
A Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale

Lagunitas rolls out hit after hit. I've never tried this one before but it's definitely up to spec with the rest of the line up.

This one needs an over-sized glass. The medium gold beer quickly foams up a large, soft-white head that leaves outrageous lacing. Check out the picture at the bottom.  Here's why: wheat has higher protein levels which contribute to foam stability. That means better, longer-lasting head on the beer and it gives the beer a fuller feel.

It smells of orange juice, spices, and sweet malt. At first it made me think of wassail. Piney hops continue to enhance the Christmasy feel. There's enough of a hop punch to ward off non-IPA drinkers.

The taste clocks in a little closer to that of an American IPA except smoother and thicker. Floral and fruity hops give it an IPA punch in the mid- and after-taste. However, the edges are rounded off making this beer very sessionable. Light alcohol esters come out as the beer warms and become more obvious in the taste.

Carbonation streams out to the last drink keeping the body crisp and the head charged.

The style proclaims it as an American Pale Wheat Ale, but I'd call it more of an India Pale Wheat Ale. Just fuller and softer. It's a great drink.

Stats
Brewer: Lagunitas Brewing Co.
Location: Petaluma, California
Website: http://www.Lagunitas.com/
Style: American Pale Wheat Ale
Alcohol Content: 7.50% ABV
Interesting Note: Back in the early days of Lagunitas, the brewery used to throw parties every Thursday afternoon at 4:20pm. Yes, that 4:20. On Thursday, March 17, 2005 - St. Patrick's Day - the brewery got a surprise visit from the police. The small company survived that encounter and every spring they brew Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale to commemorate what they now call the St. Patrick's Day Massacre. Check out the video below for the whole story.

Lots of lacing on this Little Sumpin' Sumpin'

Wasatch Brewery - Ghostrider White IPA

For the Tenth Beer of Christmas, I can't decide if I want to sing the song or deny someone permission to buzz the tower because the pattern is full. Probably the song. Especially the Johnny Cash version.

Wasatch Brewery
Ghostrider White IPA

In the post announcing the Twelve Beers for 2014, I mislabeled this one as coming from the Utah Brewers Cooperative. Now that I've done my research, I've uncovered an interesting story about brewing in Utah. I'll detail that in the interesting notes below. For now, let's get to drinking ...

Pouring up a hazy, straw color, this beer has what I can best describe as a ghostly appearance. Bazinga! Quite notable is the large, pure white head on this beer. It was almost two fingers of froth and left chunky lacing all around the glass as I drank. I mean, so chunky that I put my finger down in the glass and was wiping up the lacing like it was icing left in the bowl after frosting a cake. And it was just as tasty.

The aroma is a mildly floral with spicy notes and a bit of grapefruit. It seems milder than most IPAs.

From the aroma, I was thinking the flavor might be more subdued like a pale ale. Instead, though, I'd call it a softened IPA. It doesn't kick you in the face and scream, "I'm an IPA, damnit!" like some IPAs do. Instead, it whispers it, almost seductively. The hops come through at first drink along with the spiciness of coriander. This light bodied beer finishes crisp and clean with a light bittering from the hops and some citrus.

I'm generally a "one and done" IPA drinker. I like them well enough, but don't want to drink many because when I do I often feel the need to use a toothbrush to scrub my tongue clean. This one, though, is very sessionable. I just finished my second and will be heading to the refrigerator for a third after I finish this blog post.

Stats
Brewer: Wasatch Brewery
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Website: http://www.utahbeers.com
Style: India Pale Ale
Alcohol Content: 6.00% ABV
Interesting Note: Watasch Brewery opened it's doors in 1986 as the very first brewery in Utah. Two years later, founder Greg Schirf proposed a bill to the Utah Legislature and helped brewpubs become legal in the state. Then, of course, he opened the first one. A year after that, Squatters Pub Brewery (owned by completely different people) opened in Salt Lake City and then expanded into a full production brewery five years later. For the several years, the two breweries cruised along, boiling up wort and serving great beers. Then they discovered that despite growing demands for craft beer, the two breweries were not performing as well as they'd hoped. In an effort to cut expenses, the two came together to brew under one roof, the Utah Brewers Cooperative. The two companies seem (from what I can find) to still operate as independent entities, but they work together to minimize costs during brewing.