Northbound Smokehouse Big Jim IPA

NB SM Big Jim IPA. Named for brewer/owner Jamie Robinson's father, who was not a tall man at all. This one was a big seller from the start, and used to run out so quickly that it took a few visits before I could find it. When it was erased from the chalkboard, boos ensued, and it's readmission to the ranks on tap caused great cheering and exultation. Neighborhood beer lovers threatened to burn the building down when they were alerted to it's absence, and gangs of disgruntled beer geeks roamed the streets looking for Jamie, noose in hand.
(okay, that last sentence is entirely invented.)

Lightly hazed. Color edges between orange and red, with a nice, white, lacy head that unfortunately, with this pour at least, drifts down too quickly.

Aroma: moderate hop presence, with notes of grapefruit and orange, with sweet malt presence beneath.

Taste: Big, fat hop attack at the fore, pleasantly bitter and juicy and once. Bitterness hangs on the tongue, gets cozy, relaxes, and hangs out in the back. Citrus fruits are largest in the flavor, with portions of pine joining in. There's another factor in the flavor: deliciousness. Malt presence has something to do with this, I'm sure.

Here's how Jamie describes it on the website: "With Town Hall’s Masala Mama and Surly’s Furious, it seems as though there is a new Minnesota style of IPA emerging.  Because these are two of my favorite interpretations of the IPA style, I decided to make my own intense IPA.  Cascade, Mt. Hood, and an enormous amount of Columbus hops late in the brew and in the fermenter give this beer the hop punch IPA lovers crave.  There is also a significant malt backbone and complexity to this beer to stand up to the hop intensity.  At 7.2% ABV and roughly 90IBUs, this is my tribute to the style I call the Minnesota IPA."

I tell you what: this gets tastier the more I drink it, and, yeah, it does remind me quite a bit of Masala Mama, and a little bit of Furious. The juicy and the fruity starts to lead the bitter, and they make a terrific tango. No wonder this is a hit at the brewpub, for we are for damned sure a city full of hopheads. Makes me wonder what might have happened if Surly came out with a scotch and an amber ale, instead of Furious. We're dyed-in-the-wool hop freaks here, make no mistake.