Knee Deep Simtra Triple IPA
The appropriately named Simtra from Knee Deep Brewing employs a very healthy blend of Simcoe and Citra hop varieties within it’s amber depths. This big — 11.25% ABV — imperial IPA (or triple IPA as the label would suggest) packs in a well rounded array of new and old school aromas and flavors that should please just about every hop head across the craft beer environment.
I thought the brewery’s Breaking Bud was a darn good IPA. This much bigger sibling is packed with even more dank hops, luscious tropical fruits, sticky pine and floral notes that encompass all sensory aspects of the imperial IPA — aroma, taste and feel. The nose is full of new school floral hop notes and an array of tropical fruits including orange, pineapple and grapefruit while the taste shifts smoothly to a biting (131 IBU) and pungent old school interpretation. Everything comes to a head smoothly before fading ever-so-slowly to the long lasting and chest-warming finish.
Knee Deep Brewing has nailed it with Simtra. The blending to two schools of thought with regard to how an IPA should present itself is masterfully executed with this massive IPA. I love the combination of the succulent tropical aromas and flavors with the massive punch of bitterness and sticky hop character that persists throughout. I’d say, “more please,” but I think one bottle of this beast will do me just fine.