New Belguim's Ranger IPA

For this sampling we tried another IPA. Two Guys wrote an excellent history of the IPA for the Red Hook review. Two Guys will pause for a brief moment for our 4 readers to refresh their memory--------. You're back. We don't know about you but George Hodgson is our hero. We will not go into more IPA details for this sampling. Instead, we will take another tack. In our journey of beer exploration, Two Guys have discovered that we truly enjoy the flavor of beer. As mentioned in previous blogs Two Guys are past the drink beer out of a funnel stage---mostly. There is the occasional wedding and beer garden, after all. But what makes up flavor? It's the taste of the beer that comes from the taste buds and the odor of beer that comes from the nose. We have come to realize that the simple act of drinking a beer out of a glass greatly enhances the flavor of the beer. You can't smell the beer when you drink it directly out of a bottle or can. It seems obvious because we all know what it is like to eat food when we have a cold. It is just not the same. It's like this with food. It's like this with beer. A quality beer needs to be consumed from the glass to truly have the full effect. Try drinking your next craft beer from a glass and thank us later. Now onto the beer!

Joe: The beer we sampled was Ranger IPA from the New Belgium Brewery located in the state where the mountains are high and the breathing is hard, Colorado. It is has a light copper color with a 6.5 ABV and moderate carbonation. The odor is of floral hops with a touch of piney spice. The taste sort of mirrors the odor. It starts with a fruity malty caramel flavor on the front end and finishes off with a moderately bitter piney hop flavor. I enjoyed this quite a bit more than the Red Hook we previously tried. I felt it had a much more complex taste. You may have noticed this from all the adjectives I used in the description. I give this beer a 4.

Never Ever!

Justin: Through our journey of beer exploration I’ve come to learn that I tend to favor IPAs. They are full of flavor and have a nice bite of bitterness. Ranger IPA, our second beer to review from New Belgium does not disappoint. This medium body beer uses a blend of cascade, chinook and simcoe hops to add citrusy, floral and fruity flavors that help to give a firm but not overpowering bitterness. A hint of caramel sweetness blends nicely with the piney finish. Four stars!