Feb 17, 2016

Sweetwater Brewing Hash Session IPA

I’ll be the first to admit that I made a mistake with one of the Hash Session IPA samples that Sweetwater Brewing sent my way, but more on that later. For now, let’s focus on this tasty 4.2% ABV IPA that utilizes the brewery’s new found love — hop hash. For those not in the know, hop hash is “…a pure, concentrated form of hop resin scraped straight from the belly of hop pelletizers.” In this case, it’s straight Amarillo hop hash.

The concentrated hash (along with Bravo, as well) give this IPA a character I’ve never encountered in a beer primarily utilizing the Amarillo hops in its recipe. It’s much more fruit forward than expected, yet still has that telltale flowery and spicy character in the background. That could be a result of however much Bravo was added and when, but the result is a flavorful beer with a surprisingly lower than expected level of hop bitterness.

Regardless, Hash Session IPA is unlike many other “sessionable” IPAs I’ve crossed paths with recently. It’s not watery on the tongue and doesn’t lose any heft as a result, but just like most every other beer in this genre, it’s not really sessionable. Yes, the alcohol fits the bill, but it’s an IPA nonetheless — your palate is going to fatigue dealing with anything hoppy for too long. That said, Hash Session IPA is still a damn tasty brew… until you start to fuck with it.

Seen above, is the complimentary bag of Amarillo hop hash that arrived with the two bottles the brewery sent my way for review. Being the smart guy I am, I figured it would be a shame to let that concentrated hop goodness go to waste — hell, it smelled amazing! So, using two different beer glasses and a coffee filter, I decided to add that 4+ ounce bag of hop hash to a freshly poured Hash Session IPA. The beer sat for roughly 15 minutes before I filtered it into a clean glass. The result?

Let’s just take a look at the brewery’s response to having announced my experimentation:

And they were right, of course. The concentrated hop hash was just too much for a single glass of beer. It was extremely dank and bitter, something that probably should not have crossed my lips. It just proved that Sweetwater Brewing added just the right amount to their Hop Session IPA — it’s a great beer all its own.

This is a review of a promotional sample.