Ribstone Creek Brewery Prairie Pirate American Double / Imperial IPA at 8.8% ABV | 70 IBU (C$12.00 at The Brewer’s Apprentice, 650 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 22-Oct-2017, reviewed 16-Nov-2017)
Appearance: hazy deep gold with two fingers of rocky ivory head, good retention and well-defined lacing. (4/5) Aroma: citrus flesh and zest, pale malt, floral. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, high bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry lingering bitter finish. (3/5)
This is one way DIPA’s should be done, in my ever-so-humble opinion: malt heavy, sure, but not malt dominant. (I say “one way” because pine and dank resin are missing here, and I always like those notes in a DIPA, but this doesn’t suffer unduly from their absence.) It’s also surprisingly easy-drinking for a pretty emphatic ABV. This is a “sort-of” collaboration, since the hops are locally sourced from Last Best. (Side note: I didn’t know Last Best was distributing hops now – good for them!) I haven’t had many by Ribstone Creek, but the couple I have have been very well done indeed – I think I just slightly preferred their White IPA, but this is also definitely worth seeking out. Now I need to find their “base” IPA – strictly for comparison purposes, of course. (16/20)
8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
