Saturday, December 9, 2017

Lakefront Shop 2 Centennial IPA

Lakefront Shop (Single Hop) Series #2 Centennial India Pale Ale. Ale made exclusively with Centennial hops. Brewed and bottled by Lakefront Brewery, Milwaukee, WI. 7% ABV, 50 IBU.

Lightly hazed, amber hued, slim white head.

In the nose: Sweet malt starts the show, with Centennial hot on it's heels. Piney, leafy, citrus-y, green.

In the mouth: Big bitterness from the start. Grapefruit, orange, lemon. Medium-bodied, long hoppy finish. Nice, tasty session IPA. I like this more and more as we go.


In 1974, amid the Watergate scandal, Queen’s follow-up album, and The Brady Bunch getting nixed, hop growers at Washington State University discovered a special breed in their fields. Descended from five different hop strains, with one helluva citrus aroma, they dubbed the young cones “CFJ90”. Maybe the WSU team took 26 years to refine CFJ90? Maybe they waited for Ice Cube’s solo debut? Either way, in 1990, they unleashed the new hop, renamed “Centennial”, to eagerly-awaiting brewers. Often used alongside similar hops, we thought Centennial deserved its own solo in our Single HOP IPA series. 
SHOP–Centennial pours deep gold with a rocky white head. A generous Centennial dry hopping gives it a punchy grapefruit and orange blossom aroma, while late boil hop additions add plenty of floral and citrus zest flavors up front with biscuity Munich malt in tow. Medium bodied, SHOP–Centennial finishes with lingering orange peel.

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