Side Trip #1 - All Hands Man Battle Stations, or Torpedo IPA

Well, well, well - our very first trip away from the IBA list to focus on an IPA.  <Nigel Tufnel accent on>Just a clever little trip upwards on the middle letter <Nigel Tufnel off>

I would have considered myself a beer guy before I moved to California.  Now I know I knew nothing.  I grew up in Canada and, like most Canadian boys, grew up thinking that our beer was better than any other in the world - especially better than that watered-down 3% grog they call beer in the land to our south.  Every time my friends and I traveled to Detroit for a concert we never thought that the beer there would affect us as much as our home brew.  Funny thing is that it always did.

The beer I'm writing about is made in the Sierra Nevada foothills by a brewing company coincidentally called Sierra Nevada.  This is an India Pale Ale called Torpedo, and quite a departure from the suds I grew up with.  It's my "go to" beer if I'm unsure what to buy.  I'm not sure how I stumbled across it, except that I was trying different beer, and ran across IPAs, and really liked them.  Most of them are citrusy, and very bitter.

The bottle

I say most because I was in Canada about three months ago after being away for five years, and had to try one of their India Pale Ales.  I won't say which one, but its initials were Alexander Keith's - it was NOTHING like an IPA here.  Ya know what it tasted like?  Yup - a lager.  What's up A.K.?

Then I was in a club with a couple of my best friends - these are brothers who know their beer.  They live an hour away from Michigan and occasionally drive there to buy beer because they can't get the good stuff in Ontario.  One of them also started to brew his own beer - with his brother helping in the capacity as the quality control engineer (read drinks the beer).  We were sitting around, chatting about beer and drinking what I thought was a lager, and they pointed out to me that it was actually an ale.

Hmmm...an ale that tastes like a lager...hey Labatt's!  There's a new marketing angle for you..."Labatt 50 - an ale that tastes like a lager!"  Leave your email address so I can tell you where to send the checks...you're welcome...

Anyway, what's my point?  Oh yeah...this is a great beer at 7.2% ABV...try it if you have a chance.  Happy Thanksgiving!

The beer

The Ingredients
Beer - Sierra Nevada Brewing Company Torpedo Extra IPA

Up Next - Side Trip #2 - In Over My Head, or Thanksgiving Dessert