December 9 - Troegs - Blizzard of Hops

Troegs Brewing Company - Blizzard of Hops

This time of year the weather person becomes the go-to for misinformation when it comes to all things precipitation.  It just so happens that tonight into tomorrow they are calling for that stupid white stuff that falls from the sky that makes everyone crazy.  We got a 2 hour delay today and we'll see what happens tomorrow.  Until then...

Courtesy of Mike Solt (AKA Mr. DiscGolf)

So in anticipation of the potential for 1-21" of snow tonight into tomorrow, it's only fitting to bust out the local brew with a name that may (or may not) be appropriate for the forecast.  Enter Troegs Brewing Company's Blizzard of Hops Winter IPA.  A local brewing company from Hershey, PA, these guys make some pretty sweet and well-known beers (Mad Elf anyone?).  If you've not been able to visit their tasting room, just past Hersheypark, you need to do that ASAP.  It's a pretty cool biergarten setting with long tables for visiting with other beer connoisseurs and making new friends.  They fill growlers, but also have many of their scratch beers that are only available at their tasting room.  Each scratch beer is different so you never know what you're going to get yourself into!

View of the tasting room from above.  You can see the long tables that give the place a biergarten style.

From the bottle:

"Weighing in at 6.4% ABV and 80 IBUs, Blizzard of Hops features a blend of malted barley and wheat with Centennial, Chinook and El Dorado hops in the boil and Chinook and Galaxy dry hops."

This beer scared me at first because when I poured it, my first thought was of a Miller Lite.  It looked exactly like that in the color.  Thank goodness there was a better head on it and it definitely tasted much better.  Crisis averted...

The beer did indeed pour a transparent, golden color with a creamy white head.  The aroma was exactly as the bottle described it, with citrus and pine notes.  I actually got a hint of grapefruit in it as well.  There was some slight lacing on the glass throughout drinking as well.  

The taste gave me an initial hop bite that mellowed out in due time.  The malty flavors came through right after the hop bite with slight notes of caramel.  The citrus hops dominated for me, hinting towards grapefruit and lemon.  Along with the citrus there was an earthy tone to the hop profile.  The beer finished bitter, yet smooth, while lingering on the palate for quite a while.  

For an IPA, this is a solid choice.  I would definitely enjoy this brew again.  Even though it's not a session beer (5% ABV or below), it sure drinks like one.  I'm always up for supporting this local brewer!  I may get a chance to do so again this coming Friday...

Another 3.5 / 5 rating for this brew