First, a shoutout – I had the opportunity to celebrate my grandparent’s 60th wedding anniversary with a good chunk of my family this past weekend: congratulations, Dean and Edna! Let’s hope you have some more parties in you – you have a beautiful thing going!

In more bittersweet news, I’ve been working overtime all week – suffice to say, it’s been a great week for beer and I’ll try not to disappoint! First up on the list is Snake Dog IPA, from the Flying Dog Brewery in Frederick, Maryland. According to their website, “Snake Dog India Pale Ale is a Colorado-style IPA, power hopped with specialty hops from the Pacific Northwest. This is the brewery’s hop monster, and the citrus fruit aroma will hypnotize the senses of the most hardcore craft beer drinkers.” If you like IPA’s this one certainly doesn’t disappoint – it’s bitter in that way that only hops can be, but I’ve certainly had hoppier stuff (such as Two Brother’s Hop Juice or Stone’s Ruination), and you can definitely taste the citrus mentioned in the description. In true IPA style, the 7.1% alcohol-by-volume provides a bit of a bite, so don’t go too nuts! A bottle of this beer can be yours for $1.29 at Total Wine.

The Yeti

Next on the list is “The Yeti”, from Great Divide Brewing. I picked this one up for my dad.  Dad doesn’t just like dark beers – he loves them. Dad seeks the darkest beers that he can possibly find, and then scrapes it off the bottom of the cask. I took this as a personal challenge, and sought out the darkest beer that I could find. The Yeti was a winner – described as “viscous” and “inky”, the Yeti “opens with a massive roasted, almost chocolate, coffee malt that gives way to rich toffee and caramel notes.” It goes on to mention that it’s packed with American hops, but trust me – you won’t even notice it. This beer is loaded with flavors galore – there’s coffee, toffee, chocolate, and caramel, with a little bit of hoppiness to throw you off.  This beer may well change my opinion of other dark beers – if only they tasted like this one!  The downside (or perhaps the upside?) is that the Yeti comes in a 22 oz bottle and is packed with 9.6% ABV. Even sharing the bottle someone else generated a pleasant buzz – this beer should be savored, slowly and lovingly.  This one is a bit on the pricey side, and will run you $6.99 at your local Total Wine.

Snake Dog IPA and The Yeti

To finish off the evening, I met up with a group of friends this evening to sample one of our fine local drinking establishments.  Dave’s Electric Brewpub recently opened in Tempe, AZ and serves craft beers brewed in Bisbee. Dave has four beers on tap – Dave’s Electric Lager, Industrial IPA, OK Ale, and Oatmeal Stout; he also brews seasonal beer in-house. Alas, OK Ale and Oatmeal Stout were not available, so I got one pint each of the Electric Lager and the Industrial IPA.  Dave’s Electric Brew is 4.9% ABV; it’s light, tasty, cold and refreshing after a long day at work.  It was less flavorful than I expected, but the hint of hops that hit you on the way down was a nice touch.  The IPA fared much better – it was quite a bit more flavorful and tastefully more bitter than the Electric, and harsher going down – exactly what I expect from an IPA.  The IPA has a bit of a bite to it alcohol-wise, but still on the lighter side compared to the others.

That does it for Beersurfing’s second Thirsty Thursday.  We’ll see you next week!

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