Brewery: Sweetwater Brewing
Location: Atlanta, GA
Brew: Sweetwater IPA
Merchant: Unkown (My brother left a few behind after a visit.)
Service: 6 pk 12 Bottles
Style: IPA
Color: Copper (15 SRM)
IBU: 55
ABV: 6.3%
Temp: Fridge Cold
Smell: This smells like a big hop bomb. Loads of citrus, floral notes and sweet malt are balance perfectly.
Taste: I love the copper color and the off-white head. After the nose leaves you thinking that this brew may leave hop resin on your teeth, the first sip is not what you expect. It’s perfectly bittersweet with a ton of fruit. Upon exhale the floral notes take over your palate. This is about as fresh as beer can taste.
This brew gets even more refreshing as you work your way into it. The floral flavors subside and the bitterness of the hops take over and dry it out significantly. The label says this is a mammoth IPA but that is simply not the case. This is, however, as perfectly balanced an IPA as you will find anywhere.
I typically try to dig up more obscure Atlanta brewed gems. You can get Sweetwater IPA anywhere in the southeastern US. In Atlanta we can get it in every grocery and gas station in town. But it deserves the attention. There are cities considered better beer towns that don’t have an IPA this good in their backyard. This is a world class beer.
Pair with: Burger and fries.
3 Caps
Wayne Pelletier
September 1991. I drew from a tall, golden, hazy glass of a fresh and local hefeweizen in Bamberg Germany. Since then I've tasted more than a thousand brews. Here in the Greater Atlanta area we're pretty fortunate. Our local heavies: SweetWater, Atlanta Brewing and Terrapin all do world-class work. But the scene goes much, much deeper. That's where I like to find fresh pints. The goal is to draw attention to those finds on a 3-cap scale. Three seems simple but that isn't to say everything is great, average or terrible. Quite the contrary is the reality. I have come across very few craft/micro beers that are just no good. I assume these are all good beverages brew by good people with good intentions and you should as well. If I cross paths with a local brew that is truly terrible I won’t waste your time, or mine, writing a review. 3 CAPS: Hurry. This is a rare brew worth going out of your way to find. I swear it. 2 CAPS: A very good beer. Stands out as great in the style. 1 CAP: A decent brew that is average for the style. Prost!