The HopDevil pours a hazy orange color with an almost white head that provides some decent lacing on the glass. The aromas are nice and hoppy with a pleasant sweetness. There is, in true IPA form, a decent amount of spice coming through along with some citrus notes.

For the flavors for an IPA I’m expecting a good amount of hops and spice with hits of citrus, some bitterness, and a small kick of alcohol. The HopDevil delivers where it counts. This beer is a bit in your face for a standard IPA but it works. The bitterness will stick with you long after it is done, but you will enjoy the ride. There is very little malt, just enough that you notice it but the HopDevil is all about showing off the hops. Citrus, spice, grass and some earthiness come through nicely. A really great flavor all around.

I know that I have given the HopDevil a lot of praise, but that is only because I consider it a standard that I always use in my mind for measuring other IPAs. There are so many things done correctly with this beer that it is impossible to ignore. If you want to try a straight up IPA, something that is true to form and delivers in a big way give the HopDevil a shot.

Overall: 9.5/10

Once again, I poured this Brooklyn beer into my clean Arrogant Bastard [plug! x2] pint glass. The beer poured a nice and clear golden-amber color. This brew had a small, quickly dissipating head on it and left a mild lacing on the side of my glass. The smell is exactly what I have come to learn and expect from a good traditional-style IPA. The hoppiness from the floral hops and overall grassy aroma translates well from the beer and is by far one of  the best traditional IPAs I have smelt in a long time.

The mouthful has little carbonation and is medium-bodied. It’s very drinkable, however, with a bittery, hop taste to it. Personally, I was anticipating a lesser quality beer but was pleasantly surprised with this beer. It had the right amount of carbonation to keep it fresh and alive and is coupled with a sharp, bitter and semi-dry aftertaste to it that is dead on with an IPA.

Drinking this beer reminds me of the 1800’s and how great those sailors from England had it. If they had an abundant supply of IPAs back then, I would have been in heaven. This beer is what I think of when I hear the words “India Pale Ale.”  It is one of my new favorites and will always have a place in my beer fridge. Thank you Brooklyn for surprising me with such a solid, traditional English India Pale Ale.

Overall: 9.25/10

Nugget Nectar pours a deep amber color with a fluffy white head that dissipates into a good amount of lacing on the glass. The nose is very floral with plenty of hops coming through. Decently earthy smelling with some malty backbone keeping everything in check. There are some citrus and pine notes present as well.

Nugget Nectar is crisp and citrusy with the bitterness of the hops balanced out by caramel flavored malts. The hop flavor in this beer is wonderful; it doesn’t kill you with bitterness and is perfectly refreshing. The sweetness of the citrus also helps to create a decently complex IPA. You know the hops are there, they stand out very well, but combined with the other flavors of the beer they just excel beyond what you would expect. Let this beer warm up a little bit and the flavors only become more complex as the beer gets sweeter as its temperature increases.

In Greek and Roman mythology a nectar is the drink of the gods and I feel that Tröegs is getting close to this distinction with their Nugget Nectar. It is a great, wonderfully hoppy IPA that doesn’t go too far into the extreme end of the hoppy beers. It packs the right amount of sweetness with the right amount of bitterness. Worth checking out for both hop heads and newbies alike.

Overall: 9/10

Stone IPA was one of the first few cases of craft beer that I ever bought, so I have been drinking it for a few years now. Every time I taste this beer it is like discovering it for the first time. For some reason, I always forget just how good it tastes and being reminded of that every time I drink it is awesome.

For the purpose of this review I used a bottle of Stone IPA poured into a standard (DC United) pint glass. The beer pours a dark golden color that isn’t quite transparent. It looks solid, but not hazy. The head that the Stone IPA pours is brilliantly fluffy. It almost looks like somebody melted marshmallows and plopped them on top of your beer.

The smell? Hops, lots of them, but under control somehow. The Stone IPA has great spice notes coming through as well balanced with some latent fruitiness. If this is your first IPA (I remember when I was young…) you may want to sit down for your first hit..eerr, I mean sip. The spicy hops hit you like a ton of bricks, but they are not too bitter. They are backed up by some fruitiness and sweetness coming through. This beer is also amazingly crisp, perfect for some spicy food (I recommend Thai).

For being Stone’s standard IPA this beer is a strong “grab you by the face” IPA. But that is what Stone does, they go above and beyond the norm. Another brewery’s extreme beer is Stone’s status-quo. The Stone IPA knocks it out of the park and is a strong, hoppy, yet balanced and crisp IPA.

Overall: 9/10

Poured into a pint glass from a 12oz bottle, Hopsecutioner has a nice dark gold amber color. There is no cloudiness to speak of. The head is of medium size, white in color, and leaves a small amount of lacing on the glass.

The first sniff is when I realized that this could be a pretty solid IPA. Some good floral notes on the front end mixing with citrus and pine. The smell is not overwhelming at all; it is light yet crisp, the hops are there but they won’t kill you. With a name like Hopsecutioner, I was expecting a lot more of a big hop smell, something that turned into a theme with this beer.

I was also expecting more of a punch when I took my first sip, instead Hopsecutioner just went right down the middle. The flavors consist of fruit and citrus with a hint of pine. The malt is definitely there, more so than I would have expected, mellowing things out and making Hopsecutioner surprisingly balanced for an IPA.

I was expecting Hopsecutioner to be a beer for the extreme hop-heads among us, instead I got a very solid mid-range IPA. The hops weren’t too weak but weren’t in the extreme range. If you are starting to make a foray into IPAs this would be a good beer to use as a baseline. Overall, Hopsecutoner is a solid IPA and a good example of the style but it does not live up to the label.

Overall: 7.5/10

I had spotted this bottle at a local Ale House and, being a fan of IPAs, I had to try it. Once I had it poured, I was a bit surprised how much of a potent hop flavor I got. It’s not unusual to get this from IPAs but considering the bottle was a bit past its prime, I thought it would be a bit more muted. Not that it’s a bad thing at all. It was a wonderful hops smell that made me want to taste this even more.

The taste was quite “hoppy” too. It seems to hid any malt flavor that may be present. It was nothing too thick but very typical. Unfortunately, I didn’t find anything that stood out from this IPA. It was typical IPA flavor. The finish was a bit spicy but nothing lingering or unpleasant. By the time I was finished, I noticed a good deal of lacing and the warming of the beer didn’t seem to do much for it. There were really no enhancements that warming could have done for it anyway.

Even though I wasn’t surprised by anything in this brew, I still really enjoyed it. The flavor is excellent and solid, and extremely drinkable. If you’re an IPA fan like myself, I’d recommend giving this a try. It may not be your favorite but the New Holland Brewing Company gives us a nice choice in their line-up.

Overall: 7/10

The smell of the IPA was smooth and refreshing. It was a smooth hops smell that was not very overwhelming at all. There was a subtle carbonation to maintain the freshness of the beer. So far I was extremely pleased with how it turned out. The taste of this IPA was nothing short of spot-on from what you’d expect from an IPA. It was a nice flash of hops as soon as it hits the palate with a hint of bitterness and malty goodness. However, it is a clean taste and does not linger very long. I recommend enjoying the first one you have and then finishing off the remaining beers as this one will not last long around your IPA-loving friends.

I was ecstatic to finally find a IPA that is dead on to its name. This beer had the lighter amber color, the hops, the malt and the entire flavor you’d anticipate from an IPA. Southern Tier’s IPA has become a solid favorite of mine.

Overall: 9/10