New Belgium French Aramis IPA
Alcohol by Volume: 6.7%
Look for this beer and more at Full Throttle Bottles in Georgetown.

Intro:
This is the second release in New Belgium’s “Hop Kitchen” series. There will be four total releases of this series in 2013, with Hoppy Bock being the first, a fresh hop beer being the next release and a fourth beer featuring some throwback hops that were popular in the 80’s and 90’s.

The Aramis hop is a hybrid of French & English varieties. You can read a bit more about it here.

I’m sure many of you will be excited to see below that I’m using a new “Booya Scale” to do these Grab A Beer reviews. Booya!

Description:
Pours a golden amber with a slight bit of haze. Big frothy white head sticks around on top. Peppery, earthy hops come through in the nose. Flavor is straw with flowery and earthy hops along with just a bit of citrus. It’s kind of an odd combo for an IPA. To quote my wife, “It tastes like coca leaves*.” Quite dry with a pale base of bready malt carrying the hops. A moderate bitterness balances well.

Overall, this is an interesting IPA. I was a bit disappointed at first, but the beer grew on me. I do think that your average IPA drinker looking for something new might be a bit let down. The straw/earthy/flower hop flavors are pretty dominant and quite different from what you typically find in an IPA you pick up off the shelf here in the NW. I’d be interested to see this hop featured in a saison or maybe a Belgian-style IPA.

Verdict: 2 1/2 out of 5 Booyas
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Brewery Website
Ratebeer Info
BeerAdvocate Info

Commercial Description/Press Release:

Made with Bravo, Czech Saaz and French Aramis hops, French Aramis IPA is the latest great beer brewed up in the New Belgium Hop Kitchen. This dry IPA is perfect for refreshing afternoons of summertime drinking.

Birthdate: July, 2013
ABV: 6.7%
IBU: 75
Hops: Bravo, Czech Saaz, French Aramis
Malts: Pale, C-120, oats
Aroma: Earthy, grassy, potpourri floral, oranges, peppery, malty and medicinal
Mouthfeel: Smooth medium-full body, resinous coating, pleasant lingering bitterness, dry
Visual: Sunset orange, tight white head, heavy haze – nearly opaque

* We were in Peru earlier this year, where chewing coca leaves is common, especially among the porters guiding us to Machu Picchu. They claimed it helps with the altitude and to give you energy…but we aren’t sure it did much for us. Jeanne did also say that chewing on coca leaves reminded her of chewing on grass as a kid. I concur.

In the interest of full disclosure to satisfy the FTC regulations, this review was of a sample bottle received from the brewery.