Wednesday 13 July 2011

An IPA a Day #6

Day 6 of 28 leading up to International IPA takes us back to the dark ages of probihition. During prohibition illegal bars were called Speakeasys. Whilst they were illegal they were tacitly allowed to continue trading because a lot of their customers were police, judges and government officials who didn't agree with prohibition.
One city in the states that had a particular reputation for speakeasies was San Francisco and it was there that the Speakeasy Ales and Lagers opened.
They seem to a healthy sense of humour when naming their beers too with names such as Prohibition Ale, Untouchable Pale Ale, Rum Runner Rye and Old Godfather. The IPA I am going for today is Speakeasy's Big Daddy IPA and it was named after Dave Keene, the owner of one of my favourite San Francisco bars, Toronado. He is the unofficial "Godfather" of the San Francisco beer community. As one of *"The Mob" I love the names and the beers!
Big Daddy IPA is a golden or blonde beer with a fluffy white head. Again and this seems to be a theme in IPAs, Citrussy hops are dominant but the nose also has floral and grassy type aromas too. The taste is big, of course, hops are dominant, of course and the mouthfeel is beautifully rich.
Gotta love the art work n'all.

*"The Mob" are apparently Speakeasy beer fans - I just learnt that today - love it.

3 comments:

Neil, Eating isn't Cheating said...

Sounds like a great beer, but that artwork is God awful!

rabidbarfly said...

I have to disagree about the art wotk, I love it. Hey ho, can't agree on EVERYTHING though can we, world would be a bit dull.

Paul Hext said...

I was lucky enough to be on a multi-brewery at Speakeasy in March, they put on a lot of superb beers and some great grub. Very stylised artwork, you love it or hate it, a bit like Marmite maybe!