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It’s been a busy several days going back home to St. Louis and rushing from family event to family event on Christmas. It was great to see my grandparents though, as they’re both in their 90’s. Tonight, I’m getting ready to watch the Mizzou football bowl game against Texas in the Texas Bowl. I’ve been eyeing this beer since my sister brought it back from California for me this past summer. I’ve seen a lot about Drake’s beers, but haven’t seen them much here in central IL. I figured I’d crack open the IPAs as soon as I could before the hops fade too much.
Location: Poured into a large Sam Adams perfect pint glass at my home in Bloomington, IL.
Numbers: 9.75% ABV, 90 IBUs, 19.8 Degrees Plato OG, 2.2 Degrees Plato FG, ~320 Calories
Ingredients: Malt: 2-Row Barley, Patagonia Crystal 55; Hops: Cascade, Centennial, Chinook (Dry Hop); Chinook, Exp 07270 (Whirlpool); Warrior (Bittering); Yeast: California Ale 001
Appearance & Aroma: It’s amber-orange in color and was clear until I stirred up the yeast at the bottom, when it became fairly cloudy. It has a fluffy, creamy, off-white head that had some good retention and lacing. It has a nice piney-earthy resinous hop aroma.
Taste & Feel: The body is full and the mouthfeel is mostly creamy with a little bit of hop bite to it. The flavor up front is a bit of a sweet hop juiciness with some citrusy and piney-earthy flavors. The middle is a bit more balanced, with a nice light honey-malty sweetness balanced by citrusy-piney hop flavor and bitterness. The finish is a nice balance of earthy-piney and citrusy hop flavors and bitterness with a sweet juiciness. The bitterness comes through a bit in the aftertaste with an earthy-piney bitterness that lasts for a minute or so.
Food Pairing: There’s a lot of earthy-piney hop flavors with a little bit of citrusy flavor and bitterness. I had this with some breaded chicken breasts covered in Blis hot sauce, and the flavors contrasted nicely – as the hop flavors tame the heat a bit. I think this beer would also be great with something cheesy, like a pizza as well.
Overall Impression: I like the complex mix of hop flavors in this beer, and the fact that the hop flavors stand out more than the bitterness. It’s that nice hop flavor, rather than bitterness, that gives it a great smoothness for such a big beer. It reminds me a lot of a flavorful pale ale rather than an imperial stout. Overall, it’s a very nice beer with great hop flavors, and I hope I can get more Drake’s beers to try.
My Rating: 
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