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Liminal Space – New England IPA

Imagine Nation Brewing – Missoula, MT

A little over 4 years ago a small brewery called Imagine Nation Brewing opened up in Missoula, Montana.  They were the first combination brewery and Center for Community Transformation; they were looking to be more than just a place that makes beer.  It could be very easy for the folks at Imagine Nation to just be satisfied making good enough beer.  This is where the other first comes in.  Imagine Nation was the primary brewery in Montana to really focus on New England style IPAs, and they are great at it.  Their Lupujus series would often sell out within the week for the first couple of years (the Lupujus 8 NE Double IPA still sold out in less than 2 weeks this year).

After working over two decades in conflict zones, Robert Rivers and Fernanda Menna Barreto Krum decided to come back to Montana.  They wanted to create a space where people could gather and discuss issues concerning the community.  Starting a brewery seemed like a good way to bring people together.  Coming from a background in education and psychology, it’s clear to see why their vision is very different from your typical microbrewery.  Their ideas and goals for their brewery might seems like a stretch, but Imagine Nations taproom feels more like somebody’s home, and a lot of that comes from their great staff.

As I mentioned before, Imagine Nation Brewing were really a head of the game with their early adoption of New England style IPAs in Montana.  Most other breweries in the area looked at NEIPAs as more of a fad than the groundbreaking style that would take over the U.S. craft beer world.  Having that vision and head start to embrace and hone their recipes really put them on the map, and left their competition clamoring to catch up and cash in their success.  In that time, they have created some amazingly delicious flavorful beers.  Even today, their New England beers are quite a bit better than many I’ve tried and can easily compete with the “big names” in that style.

Full disclosure.  I am totally biased, I LOVE Mosaic hops, they are my favorite!

Liminal Space from Imagine Nation is an all Mosaic hopped New England India Pale Ale with a lot going for it.  First off, a warning if you don’t like fruity smells, do not put your nose anywhere near opening of the can!  When you open the can and start pouring, it fills the space with a wonderful fruity aroma.  For those that don’t know, or don’t really pay attention, Mosaic hops have a very citrusy scent and aroma.  They can be described as Mango, stone fruit, piney, tropical, grassy, earthy.  Anyway, they’re juicy and delightful, haters can leave and go drink a wheat beer!  The appearance is a hazy straw color with not much head, and this would be my only real slight with this beer.  The carbonation was inconsistent between the two cans I sampled, but I chalk this up to the fact that they just started canning a few weeks ago.  The flavor, like the scent, was amazingly fruity and amazing.  Overall, this is a solid beer in the New England style with a good aroma and strong flavor. 

Happy Exploring, 

Tim – Fermented Explorer

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Fresh Beer/Old Beer Challenge with Fremont Brewing’s Modpod

Fremont Brewing

I’m a beer hoarder.  I love beer a lot and I’m always buying new ones that I want to try.  This project came out of circumstance, I fell in love with Modpod last year.  This is a seasonal beer that is available from October to the end of December.  Last year, I got back from my holiday trip and bought the last available pack of it for the season.  I’ve been holding on to it like Gollum with the frickin’ one ring!  Precious, my precioussss! 

Well I’m an idiot, because in saving this for the right time, I let it go past the fresh date.  I had heard that that could affect the beer, but was like…  meh, it’ can’t be that big a deal, and I keep my beer in a beer fridge.  Well guess what?   After this evaluation, I realize it really matters, a lot.  Craft beers are made to be consumed fresh and sooner, than later.

To do this comparison I took a can from the 4-pack dated from 12/27/18 and a can I just purchased with a 10/17/19 date.  I blinded tasted them each in the same type of glass and logged my reflections.  Here are my thoughts on the differences between the two batches.

As soon as I poured them, I had an idea of which was old, and which was fresh.  Upon seeing them side by side, the difference was pretty apparent.  Visually, the fresh version is brighter and has a more vivid bright yellow color.  While the older one is more of a golden yellow color.  Also, the 2018 version had a lot more trub (the leftover bits of yeast and hops that brewers leave in the beer to make it hazy).  The older beer had a fruity scent, but it had a rubbery essence to it.  The newer one had a strong fruity/citrus aroma, like lifesavers candy.  Tasting them was another interesting encounter, the newer can tasted lighter with the flavors like a citrusy stew, where I could taste the flavors more distinctly.  The older version’s flavor was muted with a small bitterness and tingly feeling in the back of my throat.  It tasted like a bitterish fruit soup.  Overall the fresh can was really good with lots of color, flavors and aromas.  The older one was less carbonated with muted flavors that tasted tangy and smelled rubbery.

           The takeaway from this experiment is this –

If you don’t drink your beer within 90 days of purchase, you’ve wasted your money!

So, drink up and enjoy the amazingly fresh craft beer that we have available to us.  We have thousands of breweries and beers at our fingertips.  Brewers work hard long hours to deliver you beer that deserves your respect and appreciation.  If you have older beer, drink it fast or dump it.  Enjoy that fresh delicious beer!

HAPPY EXPLORING!!

Tim – Fermented Explorer

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Ace of Spades – Imperial IPA

Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB) – Portland, OR

Like its namesake, one of the pivotal songs from the band Motorhead, this beer is going to grab you by the shirt and make you take notice.  Ace of Spades from Hopworks Urban Brewery aka HUB located in Portland Oregon is a seriously hopped IPA.  Ace of Spades is one of three beers from HUB’s Imperial series that they tout as breaking the rules of the playground and seeing how much hoppiness and sustainability you can fit in to a 22oz. bottle.  At 8.6%abv and an ibu of 100+ this beer is not for the casual drinker, but if you like IPAs, I highly recommend you give it at least a couple of tries.

            I first tried Ace of Spades on tap about a month ago at Rumour taproom in Missoula, MT, when Steve, the manager and purchaser there highly recommended it.  I was there looking for a great New England style IPA, so I was not a big fan.  But, going in blind to a beer can be a real crap shoot. Everyone’s tastes are different, even between two people that love the same styles and beers.  About a week ago, I saw it in the 22oz. bomber bottle and thought I’d give it another go.  I came into this tasting much more open, and Ace of Spades delivered BIG time. 

            They pack nearly 200 lbs. of Amarillo, Cascade and Centennial hops into this IPA by adding them in every phase of the brewing and fermenting process, so you can probably guess: it is a real hoppy beer.  Using that many hops in that kind of way could be a real mouth-puckerer, but HUB balances it out incredibly well with its choice of malts to make it a very drinkable beer.

            Ace of Spades – I think it has a good yellow/orange color with some haze to it, yet is still fairly clear, and has a nice full head.  It has a full-flavored taste, with slight hoppy bitterness that works well with the caramel malt flavor.  I think it comes on strong with a sweetness, then fades into a nice well-balanced hoppy IPA and tastes really nice.  It is a bold feeling beer that packs a good punch, hence the imperial.  Overall, if you’re a hophead or someone that likes to explore new beers (especially IPAs), I would recommend you give Ace of Spades Imperial IPA from Hopworks a try.  I think you’ll enjoy the experience.

Happy Exploring,

Tim – Fermented Explorer