Summit Unchained Batch No. 18 Hop Silo Double IPA

I've told of this dilemma before here, and I try not to bring it up too often, but here it is, folks. Once more I'm faced with the desire to utilize correct branded glassware and the lack thereof. When it comes to the Summit Brewing Company, I have several shaker pints, and some others, like the Winter Ale dimpled pint glass I bought about 20 years ago at the original brewery on University Avenue, and the Great Northern nonic, and a Hefe Weizen (what happened to that beer?) weissbier glass.  I used to have one for India Pale Ale, and that one was merely a modified pub style pint. And I broke it long ago. And it's certainly not the perfect I.P.A. glass that we have now, this marvel of drinking design.

I keep forgetting what they're called…pooku? Pocko? Tiki? Not Teku, that's the other special one. That's easy to remember. Te. Ku. Rolls right off the tongue. What's this one, though? Gooble? Gobble? Gabba Gabba?

(Edit: It's called "spiegelau." Gabba Gabba...what was I thinking?)

I was without one until the Surly Company Store offered one with their logo, which I picked up on my second visit to the new brewery. Surely that's the most appropriate vessel for this new Double IPA, the first, I believe, from Summit. It's right there on the can. Now, if Summit comes out with one with their logo on it, should I get one? How many of these do I need? I've got too many beer glasses as it is. (Did I actually say that?) So, sorry Summit, while I pour the latest Unchained Series (Batch 18) beer, the Hop Silo Double IPA into a Surly-branded Spiegelau. Eric Harper, brewer. Brewed and Canned by Summit Brewing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota. 1 pint ale, 8% Alc./vol.

Appearance: clear, bright golden hue, with an impressive, flowering, creamy white head. Very inviting.

Aroma: lively hop presence hits the nose first. Citrus notes foremost, with pine behind. Tropical tints, too. Slight sweetness, here and there. Also inviting. So far, a likable brew.

Taste: Here come the hops in spades, with a truck load of bitterness to drop onto the tongue. Orange and lemon lead the attack, with tropical fruits also landing on the palate. This one isn't too anything, and it's ably assembled, like just about every brew out of Summit. Just the right amount of delicious hops at play in the mouth, the proper dose of booze, as well. Medium-bodied, long bitter finish, having themselves a non-stop party in the mouth. And you're invited.

Brewer Eric Harper honorably avoided the route of naming the beer after some atrocious hop pun. It was a clever twist to put it in a pint can, another first for Summit, and name it for the notion of a tall cylindrical container for hops. Here's hoping they have a hit on their hands with this one.