After a night of drinking and fun (last night I was at a pre-Thanksgiving party with lots of Great Divide Titan IPA), I decided to have a beer tonight. I opened up my bottle of Left Hand’s Warrior IPA. This is a fresh hops IPA, meaning the hops in it were added right after being harvested, still fresh, not dried, like most beers. The beer pours like a regular IPA except with a thicker head (about 2 fingers thick, white and creamy) and a bit cleaner look. The color is a darker amber than most IPA’s, which tend to be a more pale amber color. It left a nice sticky lacing on the side of the glass.
I could immediately smell the hops upon pouring the beer. The smell is more floral than most IPA’s, which tend to have a piney or citrusy smell to them. I knew I was in for a treat just from the smell.
The beer tastes mostly of those floral hops. It actually tastes floral, if you can believe it (and if you’re into beer, you probably can believe it). The hops flavor is balanced by the malt character, though not too much or else it wouldn’t be an IPA. The taste is very clean and easy going down. Towards the end of the bottle (I drank the whole 22 oz. bomber myself), the hops flavor moves to a more piney flavor. The hops are a bit more toned down than in most IPA’s, mainly because they’re fresh. There is ample carbonation and the beer is nice and smooth and not quite as harsh as most IPA’s. This is a very easy drinking IPA and feel very clean and refreshing going down.
If you like IPA’s, this is definitely something to check out. While most IPA’s tend to be summer beers, this one is a seasonal beer for the fall because that’s when the hops are harvested.
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