Hayes Bomberpalooza, The Finale

And so all good things must come to an end.  The Husband and I were fortunate enough to have my parents in town for this event and it is always better to have 4 sets of eyes on a walking/talking/crawling/constantly-on-the-go 10-month old.  Unfortunately, our little trooper couldn't stay awake much past dark.  So, these are the last 2 beers that we were able to sample.  It is my understanding that there were a few more to be sampled after we left, but I was not given any details of those beers.  And rightly so, I cannot blog about beers I did not taste myself.


Beer #13:  Hop Knot IPA (6.7% ABV) from Four Peaks Brewery in Tempe, Arizona

Beer #13.  We should have stopped here and ended on a good note.

A local favorite for sure, we switched to the Hop Knot from Four Peaks (who found this and where?) and after having so many flavor explosions, was a welcome change.

I overheard someone say how great it was to have this beer as a comparison to other IPAs.

"It's brilliant."

"It's green."

"Great - not an over the top IPA."

According to Beeradvocate.com, "Hop Knot IPA get its peculiar name from the weaving of four different hops added at four separate times during the brewing process. Including our cavernous hop-back, which gets so stuffed with whole leaf hops that we feel genuine guilt for its excess. Hop Knot is an ale that is to be enjoyed with friends, spicy food or any time you need a good hop fix without the harsh bitterness. We hope you enjoy this pioneering beer made in the bold spirit of Americans everywhere."

Well, we did indeed enjoy it with friends and spicy food.  Thank you Four Peaks for being an awesome local brewery and always producing magic liquid goodness.





Beer #14: Mojo Rising Double IPA (10% ABV) from Boulder Brewing Company in Boulder, Colorado

I mentioned earlier that there was one beer which was not well received.  I saved the best (review) for last.  We cracked open the Mojo and had high hopes.  At least I did.  I liked the bottle art and I like Boulder ... so I was hoping that this would be a good one.  Plus, I think I knew that we were about to leave and wanted to leave on a good note.

According to Boulder's website, "Only 120 precious barrels were brewed, adding more than half a ton of extra malt and twice the amount of Amarillo hops, so prepare your self for a full sensory explosion. The double dry-hop addition elevates the grapefruit-like aroma and flavor to an outrageous intensity, while the added malt raises the alcohol level from 7% all the way to 10% by volume."

When I asked for feedback, I got a thumbs-down from literally everyone, except one. Comments ranged from "too thick and sweet" to "not crisp enough for an IPA" to "too much malt for an IPA".

The best and most descriptive comment of the evening has to be the one that described the mojo as "tasting like someone's two-week-old dirty, smelly feet with a smell that just hangs out there."

Sampling 14 beers over 5% ABV in 4 hours is not an easy task.
But apparently it was enough to motivate me to make Irish Car Bombs for my mom and me when we got home.

Thanks to Pat and Wendy for hosting the event and also to all the eager tasters who were patient with me taking beer pics, asking questions and constantly asking to repeat your comments on all the beers we tasted.  Thanks even more to those of you who read and comment on the blog.  I appreciate your feedback on how to make the blog better and going forward, I will do my best to include a ranking system.  Knowing that people read this nonsense is just part of what makes it fun for me (but not for The Husband).

Pat --- make this an annual or bi-annual event.  Next time we'll all come well hydrated, with a giant bag of pretzels or popcorn and a tent/sleeping bag.

Also, I think blogging about 14 beers in 2 days is a bit much for me.  My brain hurts and my creative energy is completely gone (as likely evidenced by the past 2-3 posts which have started to suck and not meet my own standards for creative writing - although it would still probably get me a passing grade at ASU despite the number of grammatical errors The Husband has noticed). I'm going to take my glass of Bailey's on crushed ice and go sit on the couch for a blog-free day or so.

Cheers to everyone!