Teikoku IPA

Remember me mentioning that I expected to be thrown a curve ball or two, what with an American brewer in charge of a Japanese brewery? Well, this might just qualify!

Packing in a ton of hops isn't hard. Getting them all on the page, to somehow make something of a melodious harmony? Not so simple.

Here, I think Bryan Baird worked around this problem by applying Occam's Razor: the simplest solution to a problem is often the most correct. In this case, want a big hoppy citrus-heavy beer? Use a ton of citrusy hops!

Loads of Cascade and Centennial in this one. Wouldn't be surprised if newer types (Amarillo? Simcoe?) were in the works, too. Can never really tell with the Bittering hops, but I'd wager that this wasn't even Bittered with anything but citrus-heavy hopping....

Either way, this is packed with grapefruit, mandarin orange, and lemon hoppy highlights. The flavor is very "bright", and even with seemingly two-times the Recommended Daily Allowance of Vitamin C from all that citrus, this is still clean and drinkable.

This packs a lot of flavor and hops into a rather modest 5.8%ABV beer.

Not my favorite Baird Beer (the Rising Sun Pale Ale has that honor). But surely nothing I'd turn down, either!
//TB