560. Samuel Adams – Third Voyage Double IPA

Posted By kkozlen on Mar 23, 2013 | 0 comments

My homebrew club acquired a few bourbon barrels, and our group is brewing an Imperial Stout to put in the barrel. We’re brewing tomorrow at Illinois Brewing Company (IBC), here in Bloomington, IL. We have the grain, about 250lbs of it, but found out IBC only has a small corona mill. Therefore, my friend Fred and I started milling the grain this afternoon at his house. While we were milling the grain, Fred offered me this beer from a case of Sam Adams IPAs he bought. It took a while to mill the grain, but it was nice having a beer to sip on while doing it, so we knew we were working toward a nice beer of our own.

Location: Served in the Sam Adams bottle, at Fred’s house in Normal, IL.

Numbers: 8% ABV, 85 IBUs, 24 SRM, 278 Calories

Ingredients: Malt: two-row pale malt blend, caramalt, honey malt; Hops: Cascade, Simcoe

Appearance & Aroma: I poured a little of it into a sample glass Fred had, and it was dark-rusty-red in color and very clear. The head was off-white, good-sized, and somewhat fluffy. The aroma was definitely hoppy, with some grassy, piney, and citrus.

Taste & Feel: The body was medium-full and the body was slightly creamy. There was a bit of a malty caramel flavor detectable for a split second before big hop flavor and bitterness kicked in. In the middle was a mix of piney and earthy hop flavors, which grew in the finish, joined by hints of citrusy and floral hops as well. The finish is slightly dry with a good dose of hop bitterness. The earthy and piney hop flavors last for a couple minutes in the finish, with hints of citrusy hops as well.

Food Pairing: This beer has plenty of hoppy flavors, and I’d pair it with something that could cut through the hops a bit. Therefore, I’d pair it with a thick, juicy burger, or steak. However, you could also let the hops take center stage and pair it with something lighter, like a patty melt, that would cut it a little, but still let hops shine through.

Overall Impression: There was a decent dose of caramel maltiness that was detectable before the hop flavors kicked in. I enjoyed the mix of hop flavors, from earthiness and piney to citrusy and lightly floral. Overall, this was a pretty good double IPA with a good dose of nice tasting hops, and a bit of caramel malt backbone.

My Rating: