Heritage Brewing Force Multiplier
Earlier this month, Heritage Brewing launched their rebrand and introduced two new beers to their core of flagship products. Force Multiplier, a 7.5% ABV double IPA, is one of those beers and fits the meaning behind its moniker quite well. Being veteran-owned, there’s an obvious military bent to the term, but “force multiplier” can be applied to any factor that dramatically increases the effectiveness of an item or group. Essentially, the brewery has taken their Freedom Isn’t Free IPA and made it that much more effective.
The key, however — and I learned this while sampling the new beers and chatting with co-owners (and brothers) Sean and Ryan — is maintaining a level of drinkability while creating this double IPA. Well, Force Multiplier is simply dangerously drinkable. The beer certainly has more of a hop presence (grapefruit, pine, resinous, moderately biting) than their flagship IPA, but it’s also balanced with a bigger, bolder malt backbone that brings in a complimentary level of sweetness, bread and caramel.
Force Multiplier isn’t going to replace your favorite imperial IPA, but if you’re looking for something a bit more full flavored than your standard IPA, then it’s the beer for you. It fits in nicely between Heritage’s Freedom Isn’t Free and their limited release Double Taxation (a big imperial IPA that is packed with sticky pine and tropical fruits). This double IPA’s deceptively smooth character makes for an easy drinking beer — before you know it, you’re four cans deep and dreading Monday morning.