Karl Strauss Tower 10 IPA

As some folks know, I had a heck of time getting back from a business trip to Western Japan. A taxi to the bus Sasebo bus station, and a bus ride from Sasebo to Nagasaki, and a flight from Nagasaki to Haneda [Tokyo] airport, and a bus from Haneda to Narita [Tokyo] airport? Not my preferred way to get around, but no big deal.

But then running to the catch my flight leaving Narita, just to have the plane leave the gate, and then sit on the runway? For four hours? No A/C? While techs tried to fix the radio system? And then finally having the plane head back to Narita terminal, and have to fight for another flight out? And end up having to fly from Tokyo to Honolulu, and then Honolulu to Los Angeles? I'm all about making the best of my ample travel opportunities, and the adventure of it all. But come on now...!

So..., with too many airports and too many airplanes and too many time zones under my belt before getting home, you might have gotten away with putting a warm can of Keystone Light in front of me at the Karl Strauss bar at LAX, and I'd probably have ended up giving it a passing a grade.

So, with that sort of "rode hard and put up wet"/Road Warrior angle, am I even able to give this a real eval? I'd like to say, "Yes".

Enough intro -- and enough frequent flier flummoxing -- does this beer suck, or not?

I'll have to say, "Not". This does not suck, er, much.

Why the disclaimer/pause? Only in that, yes, this did okay for a frequent and/or jet-lagged flier..., I'm not so sure that this would be worth seeking out in less arduous conditions. The hop profile is far below specs -- chock full of those limp and overly soft/well-behaved hops that Karl Strauss has always preferred. IPAs need to have a maladjusted/misbehaving angle to the hop profile to really work. Even with old man Herr Strauss having passed on, the Karl Strauss outfit just does not understand American hop profiles at all.

The malt profile is thankfully robust enough to keep this from being an ad hoc resident of Sucksville, CA. But really? So what? Any ol' homebrewer can make some wort, and have some yeast chew on those sugars, to have them make both alcohol and CO². So having "Maker of adequate malt profiles" listed on a resume -- after I've won the Powerball Lotto, and when I'm hiring brewers for the ever-expanding Eye Chart Brewing Company -- that won't win me over one iota.

In short? Even if I wasn't worn-to-the-bone from too much travel in a 30-hour period, I still wouldn't give this much more than a "meh".
//TB