December 21st - Knee Deep Brewing Company Breaking Bud

Hitting the home stretch now and down to the last 5 days of the blog for 2017.  Tonight we'll continue by rounding 3rd base and head for home...

...it's a brown-eyed, handsome man - thanks John Fogarty for the inspiration!

Coming from Auburn, California (just NE of Sacramento if you were curious...) is Knee Deep Brewing Company and their Breaking Bud American IPA.  I know what you're thinking.

"Stop reviewing these west coast beers that we can never obtain unless we travel to the west coast."  The good news is that it didn't come from my latest Tavour order.  The other good news is that I've seen this many a time at my local grocery stores (Weis, for example).  If I dig it, and you think you might dig it, you too can enjoy this!

Pouring from the bomber into my DFH IPA glass was a hazy golden color with a decent khaki head that left some pretty good lacing on the sides as I enjoyed it.  Wow, this is a pretty strange hop aroma and combination right here.  I did some double-checking via Beer Advocate tonight to be honest, just to make sure my palate wasn't fractured.  We definitely have some fruity, spicy and earthy hop aroma with a slight pine background.  There is definitely some caramel maltiness in there too.  A very smooth citrusy sip was first with virtually zero hop bite at all.  Definitely not what I expected from an IPA.  Slight pineapple and mango are found in the flavor as well as, again, a slight earthy bitterness.  The finish is pretty dry with a slight malty residual taste on the palate.  This beer doesn't drink like an IPA at 6.5% at all.  It's almost session-like in that the alcohol presents itself very low.

Overall, this is pretty unique and not like anything I've had before!  Glad it's a bomber bottle so I can continue enjoying it!  A 4.25 out of 5 sounds about right here tonight!  I'm sure glad I can pick this up whenever I'd like to at my local stores.  I'll definitely be sure to do so!

Please tell me you were waiting patiently for the Breaking Bad reference, right?

The mosaic hops are definitely what I believe set this off and make it a pretty interesting complex, yet enticing, bouquet of aromas.  I can't really put into words how it smells, but there are so many different things in there that the aroma alone is something worth experiencing.  I typically enjoy a hoppy beer.  This choice is hoppy, but it's a different hoppy.  It's not a bitter, drink some flowers sort of hoppiness.  It's a flavorful experience coupled with an aromatic one at the same time.  A VERY solid choice for the hophead who is particular about their IPA, or for the "hop hater" who doesn't like an overly bitter beer.  Balance is pretty spot on tonight as well.