Tonight I'll be drinking a Northwest Passage IPA from Flat Earth Brewing in St. Paul, MN. This is a small brewery that was born back in 2007, founded by Jeff Williamson. Way back in 2010, in our early brew-review days, I reviewed their
Cygnus X-1 Porter, which has grown to become one of my favorite porters in the Twin Cities. Northwest Passage IPA is "the hoppiest IPA in the Midwest" at 115 IBUs, according to Flat Earth's website. Bold words! Brewed with canadian malts and plenty of American hops, this brew registers at 6.5% alcohol.
The beer is being served in a pint-sized bottle, priced reasonably at around $5. A soft pour yields a 2 inch off-white head that hangs around for a few minutes before slowly receding. The color is a soft golden orange, clear although I did notice a few rogue floaties. The aroma is resinous and pungent, with some dank pine mixed with a hefty amount of citrus mixed with some light florals. It's definitely an American-Hop bouquet. The flavor starts off with a surprising amount of bitterness. I know it has 115 IBUs, but that didn't fully prepare me for the palate body-slam this beer serves up. Starts off with a load of herbal pine resin. Follow that with a lemon rind citrus back-stop, definitely not fruity like the nose had hinted, but a zesty, slightly spicy citrus bitterness does come forward. Then comes a layer of honey-covered caramel malts, brings some nice (much needed) balance to the hop assault. The body is medium and the carbonation is heavy, but overall the beer drinks smooth with a dry bitter finish.
Overall Rating: At first I thought, 'Come on Flat Earth...it can't be the hoppiest beer in the entire Midwest!'. Then I took a sip, and regretted ever doubting them. This is a heavy-weight in the IPA world, bold and hop-slamming, but with enough of a malt foundation to hold things together. Nice brew, I recommend it! A-
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