Brew's Clues: Hop Hog IPA
Dennis Mongello
Issue date: 10/26/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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What's in a name?
A lot of crafty beer companies give funny names to their brews. One strange name, for example, is #9. What kind of beer is that? Sure it's a good beer, but you'd have no idea what you drinking until to crack one open and take a sip. You don't know what you are getting yourself into.
I propose a truth in beer naming act. Breweries can still feel free to put goofy names on their beer, but they should also put the style on there too. Lancaster Brewing understands the importance in naming a beer. I don't think any beer is more aptly named than their Hop Hog IPA.
As the beer pours, it leaves a stiff, short head. It dissipates to leave behind a sticky lacing that just clings to the side of the glass. It pours a clear amber, the same deep, rich color as a wild boar. As for the smell, Hop Hog starts off sweet with ripe citrus fruity notes, then moves into the aromatic hoppiness and finishes off with the comforting boozy alcoholic scent. The smell is high on alcohol but not really unpleasant. That said, it is not going to win any awards for its odor either. This is a beer that smells like a beer. It doesn't really smell like other IPA's, so this big aroma is probably the most distinctive part of the ale.
The big beer smell is exceeded by the big beer taste. Like the aroma, the taste is multilayered as well. As the liquid first hits your tongue, it is tickled with the big bitterness provided by the ample hops. Of course this beer is hoppy. It's an IPA, however this beer seems to pig out on the hops. As the beer travels back, you can feel a creamy maltiness and a sweet citrus flavor in the back of your mouth. The beer finishes long and dry with a powerful, but not overpowering smoky bitterness.
The beer is full bodied and the bubbles tend to explode with carbonation with each swig. This gives a beer a creamy character that is generally lacking in the IPA department. The bitterness through and through mixed with the alcohol might slow you down a bit, but the taste keeps you coming back for more. The beers has a slight alcohol burn in the back of your throat going down, but the alcohol warms you up, right into your belly, and speaking of bellies, this ale is full bodied, much like a pot-belly pig.
Like most IPA's, the Hop Hog goes well with spicy foods, white meat and fish. The extra creaminess in this specific offering will match well with a wider array of foods, like softer cheeses or mild red meat like lamb. It also goes well with long summer nights spent on the bay by Cape May.
The folks up in Lancaster don't really do a good job at making haunted houses, but that's another article altogether. What they do well is putting a good name on their beer's label. The weird part is what else is on the label: a creepy tiny image of the Lancaster Brewing Lady. I don't know who she is or why she's on my beer, but get her off the label! Anyway, the Hop Hog IPA is a must try for hop heads as it is slightly above average in the sea of IPA's, however, there are still a lot of better examples of the style out there.
Rating: 3
Inebriating: 4
A lot of crafty beer companies give funny names to their brews. One strange name, for example, is #9. What kind of beer is that? Sure it's a good beer, but you'd have no idea what you drinking until to crack one open and take a sip. You don't know what you are getting yourself into.
I propose a truth in beer naming act. Breweries can still feel free to put goofy names on their beer, but they should also put the style on there too. Lancaster Brewing understands the importance in naming a beer. I don't think any beer is more aptly named than their Hop Hog IPA.
As the beer pours, it leaves a stiff, short head. It dissipates to leave behind a sticky lacing that just clings to the side of the glass. It pours a clear amber, the same deep, rich color as a wild boar. As for the smell, Hop Hog starts off sweet with ripe citrus fruity notes, then moves into the aromatic hoppiness and finishes off with the comforting boozy alcoholic scent. The smell is high on alcohol but not really unpleasant. That said, it is not going to win any awards for its odor either. This is a beer that smells like a beer. It doesn't really smell like other IPA's, so this big aroma is probably the most distinctive part of the ale.
The big beer smell is exceeded by the big beer taste. Like the aroma, the taste is multilayered as well. As the liquid first hits your tongue, it is tickled with the big bitterness provided by the ample hops. Of course this beer is hoppy. It's an IPA, however this beer seems to pig out on the hops. As the beer travels back, you can feel a creamy maltiness and a sweet citrus flavor in the back of your mouth. The beer finishes long and dry with a powerful, but not overpowering smoky bitterness.
The beer is full bodied and the bubbles tend to explode with carbonation with each swig. This gives a beer a creamy character that is generally lacking in the IPA department. The bitterness through and through mixed with the alcohol might slow you down a bit, but the taste keeps you coming back for more. The beers has a slight alcohol burn in the back of your throat going down, but the alcohol warms you up, right into your belly, and speaking of bellies, this ale is full bodied, much like a pot-belly pig.
Like most IPA's, the Hop Hog goes well with spicy foods, white meat and fish. The extra creaminess in this specific offering will match well with a wider array of foods, like softer cheeses or mild red meat like lamb. It also goes well with long summer nights spent on the bay by Cape May.
The folks up in Lancaster don't really do a good job at making haunted houses, but that's another article altogether. What they do well is putting a good name on their beer's label. The weird part is what else is on the label: a creepy tiny image of the Lancaster Brewing Lady. I don't know who she is or why she's on my beer, but get her off the label! Anyway, the Hop Hog IPA is a must try for hop heads as it is slightly above average in the sea of IPA's, however, there are still a lot of better examples of the style out there.
Rating: 3
Inebriating: 4
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