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Let’s talk about Widmer Deadlift and Imperial IPAs
Do you love hops as much as life itself? Do you hanker an ale that’s bracingly bitter? Widmer’s Deadlift imperial IPA is your new favorite beer. You’re welcome.
It’s not exactly new to our market, but it was new to me yesterday when I grabbed a four-pack at Spec’s. It’s got an insane citrus-y hop nose; you could probably smell somebody opening one from the other side of the house. The pour is an inviting autumnal copper.
And it’s got something a lot of imperial India Pale Ales don’t have — balance. First there was the IPA style, then American IPAs with more hops than their British cousin and more emphasis on domestic hops, particularly those from the Pacific Northwest, which tend to be higher in alpha acids. And when that still wasn’t enough, imperial IPAs come along. Historical note: The invention of the style, also called double IPA, is often credited to Russian River’s Vinnie Cilurzo, then brewing at Blind Pig in Temecula, Calif., when he — whoops — added half again as much malt to his mash and tried to compensate by doubling the hops. I’m not buying that it was an accident; Cilurzo is a pretty meticulous guy. (Another version of the creation myth has the guys at Rogue coming up with the style, the so named Rogue Imperial IPA.) Anyway, the result was Blind Pig IPA and the race was on, especially among West Coast brewers, to see who could crank up the hops the most.
Let’s be honest. These days that style is like the beer equivalent of hot sauce. Brewers get so competitive about hops that the results can be unpleasant if not undrinkable for a lot of beer fans, even hopheads. There are ways to do it successfully, I should note. Lagunitas’ Hop Stoopid has 102 International Bittering units and I’ve usually got a bomber bottle at the ready in my larder. Avery’s answer to that (predecessor, actually, I believe) is Maharaja and, to a slightly lesser extent, Dugana. Others you can find in our part of the world include Victory’s Hop Wallop and Bear Republic’s Hop Rod Rye
Deadlift is a sturdy 8.6 percent alcohol and has 70 IBUs — that’s sissy hoppage compared to some of those bruisers mentioned above. But there’s nothing about it that doesn’t feel well-built and the hop varieties are so distinctive. Prominent is Nelson Sauvin, a New Zealand hop that’s celebrated for its pine and grapefruit notes. It’s like the kid in school with his arm high in the air, trying to get the teacher’s attention. Nelson Sauvin comes in toward the end of the boil for aroma, and it’s also used in the dry hop phase, where it hangs out with its good friends Cascade and Willamette.
I suspect the dry hopping is what puts this baby over the top. Whatever they’re doing, I hope they don’t change a thing.
Pour it into a good glass like a tulip it and let me know what you think.
And in the OMG-I-buried-the-lede-dept., for an excellent piece on how pretty much everything you know about the origin of the IPA style is almost certainly wrong, click here. You’re welcome. Again.
Comments
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By Winchester
May 13, 2010 10:17 AM | Link to this
Love Hop Stoopid. And Widmer’s W-10, a cascadian black (combine a porter & an IPA laded with cascade) is awesome. Thanks for the tip on Deadlift.