When I usually find an American IPA in my beer fridge it is usually produced in this country by a brewery trying to create a traditional American India Pale Ale. I know that pretty much sounds like I never know what I'm going to find in my beer fridge, and that is partly true… Of course I have my regular beers in there, as well as Cinabar buys me the odd beer now and then when she's risking the shops. This American IPA was produced by the the Devil's Backbone Brewing Company, in Roseland, Virginia. So I'm expecting an authentic citrus hoppy adventure over the Blue Ridge Mountains as promised on the back of the bottle.
"There's gold in them there hills!" I've always wanted to say that… not really, but I've just re-watched all the episodes and latest film of Deadwood, which is all about the gold rush. The language is pretty ripe most of the way through, and the violence can be gruesome, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. Of course Deadwood was set in South Dakota, however the Blue Ridge Mountains have also been mined for gold and precious gemstones. This 5.2% volume American Pale Ale is a deep golden colour, which reminds me of the gold rush days of old.
On opening the 500ml bottle there was a sweet smell of pale and possibly crystal malts, and a crisp aroma of citrus hops. Big on flavour the sweet malts came to the fore on my first swig followed closely behind by those sharp lip-smacking citrus hops. These hops have a bitter bite that keeps on giving right into the aftertaste. Almost annoyingly moreish I found it pretty difficult to leave my beer glass alone after my first taste. This is a really gorgeous flavoursome American IPA, and no mistake.
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