Crow Peak 11th Hour IPA

"Crow Peak 11th Hour IPA, alcohol 6.5% by volume. Handcrafted in the Black Hills. Pure hoppiness."

Hazy deep crimson hue, creamy head, 1/2 ", lacy and long lasting.

Aroma: prickly pine, potent, plump and powerful fruity esters, citrus aplenty, tangerine, orange, pineapple, lemon and lime. Utterly lovely.

Taste: fresh and flush with flavor, huge bitterness, plays politely on the palate, bounces and trounces, speeds hoppy flavor all over. Next sip: Mmmm, more of the same, bitter hops, juicy fruit. Floods in the mouth, spills out delicious hoppy flavor, speeds it all over. Pure hoppiness, pure happiness.

Long on the palate, long finish, terrific tasting, lacking nothing, Absolutely delicious IPA. Mmmmm, wow. Utterly satisfactory.

How happy am I to taste an IPA this good, in a can, from South Dakota? Mighty happy. First, it further kills the lie that you have to be California, Oregon, or Washington to brew a great, hoppy IPA. I've heard it, and it's the quacking of a lunatic. Also, it shows the influence of Surly. I seriously doubt a beer like this could exist in a place like that if you'd plucked Omar Ansari and Todd Haug out of the frame of history, in the past five years. It would've been utterly unheard of to create, brew, sell, enjoy a fresh and vibrant IPA such as this in a market like South Dakota. Heck, I doubted Furious would've been popular five years ago.

Cheers, Crow Peak! Onward and upward!

Crow Peak Pile-o-Dirt Porter

Crow Peak Brewing Company, Spearfish, South Dakota, Handcrafted in the Black Hills. Alcohol 6% by volume. Gift from loyal customer Laura.
As mentioned in a previous post, I can't imagine what was in their heads when they okayed this name. "Pile-o-Dirt"? What? Doesn't even sing. Thuds. Clunks. Sits. Do they get a gleam in their eye when they imagine a thirsty customer bellying up to the bar, and telling the attendant, "I'll take a Pile o' dirt?" Ah, well. Let's crack and slurp.

Solid stygian appearance, no light escapes. Small brown, espresso-toned head, slims down, but stays.

Aroma, roasted malt and cocoa. Bittersweet espresso tinges, slightly sweeter chocolate edges. Very even, mellow, nice.

Taste: smooth on the palate, slight bitterness, good malt, with hardly a sweet note anywhere. Excellent balance, even tempered. Cola tints here and there, medium bodied, not too full, not too rich, just right, as porter ought to be, right? Hold together just so, and continues to deliver flavor.

I do like this, and would be very happy if I were a frustrated South Dakotan dark beer lover, encountering this for the first time. This is the first packaged SD brew I've ever had, apart from a brewpub growler, years ago. I hope Crow Peak does well. That would be a good omen for the craft beer community at large. Next up…North Dakota???