By the Beer Professor JW Faulkner @EngProfJW
It’s 10:45 AM on a Friday and hell yeah I’m drinking a beer! But your judgments be damned because I just finished grading and summer vacation is about to start (yup, I still get a summer break!) To help kick off my summer, this weekend I’m drinking a very smooth/balanced IPA. This weekend West Sixth IPA is What’s on Tap!
Brewed in the land of bourbon, West Sixth Brewing Company provides Lexington, Kentucky with excellent craft beer and their IPA might be the finest of their year-rounds/flagship brews. I love this brew’s hazy amber/copper/orange-ish color; it looks like the perfect IPA. As with most IPAs, the dominate flavor is the hoppy citrus but the secondary flavors also stand out.
On each sip I get an awesome combination of fruit (lemon/lime, orange, peach!?) that’s balanced with a nice earthy blend of malt, pine, and resin. And of course there is a bit of bitterness on the backend but nothing that is over-powering. This is a perfect IPA for the summer; it has all of the classic IPA characteristics but it is very crisp and drinkable.
There is no dish that says “summer” like an American IPA and some grilled hot dogs. I am loading my dog up with some chili so the beer does not over power the dish. I am also enjoying the awesome weather, baseball, and me not having to work until August. Here’s to the weekend, a great drinkable IPA, and to the start of my summer!
Cheers!
Beer Stats
Style: American IPA
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 7%
Bitterness (IBUs): 80
Color: Hazy Orange / Amberish
Hops: Cascade, Centennial, Columbus, Citra
Yeast: House Ale
Malts: 2 Row, Honey, Cara, Dextrin, Flaked Barley
