Blackstone Adam Bomb IPA

[Kealia]

Short version:
This was a commercial beer sent to me by the little green bastard. It was VERY good.

Long version:
7.3% ABV, 83 IBU, 2 week dry hop schedule comprised of 3 different hop additions. This beer won the Great American IPA Challenge in a blind taste test against breweries like Stone, DFH, Sierra Nevada, Foudners, New Belgium, Victory, Lagunitas , Bell's and a few others. While I haven't tasted every beer it was up against I can say that it likely deserves to be the winner

It pours the typical golden/orange color with a nice head that persisted throughout. I took good care to make sure that I had a super clean glass and it payed off. The head captured the wonderful aromas that were escaping from this beer. It's very reminiscent of Pliny in the nose, but also different. I believe it uses some of the same hops for a dry hop but it also has some notes of sweet candy and something else that I just couldn't place, but liked. A lot. It doesn't have the super malty/slightly alcoholic aroma that Pliny has, which I liked in this beer.

The taste is just - wow. Pliny to me is a "treat" beer because I find it a bit heavy. This beer has all of the taste without the heavy feeling or the somewhat bitter finish. It's SUPER smooth on the bitterness, like what I've always read that FWH does (I have no idea if it actually was FWH'd, mind you). It pops with flavor on your tongue, making it tingle ever-so-slightly before finishing perfectly crisp. If it finished any crisper I would almost call it an IPL, but it was slightly heavier than that.

I loved this beer and would drink it on the regular if I were a Tennessee boy.
My only question is: What is a kick-ass West Coast IPA doing in Tennessee?

[Kealia]

I forgot to add:

This doesn't taste like you think 7.3%/83 IBUs will taste. It's smooth and easy and not a palette wrecker like some IPAs/IIPAs can be. I actually pulled a pint of Levitation off my kegerator (I love saying that) into the glass when I was done and the residual lacing kicked that up a bit and made that beer even better.

[BlackDuck]

This was a commercial beer sent to me by the little green bastard.

Dude.....this made me laugh.

And Blackstone makes some really good stuff. My wife spent some time at Vanderbilt and we loved going to that place. But I've never had the Adam Bomb.

[Beer-lord]

Sounds like my kind of beer....green bastard or not!

[Inkleg]

Going to keep an eye out for this.

LGB.......now that's funny right there.

[swenocha]

It is only distributed in the TN mid-state, so if you're in the area keep an eye out for it. But remember that the screwy beer laws in TN make this beer, due to being over 6.5% (or whatever), have to be sold at the wine store. Also, this makes it unavailable on Sunday, so plot your shopping trip wisely...

Here's my write-up on the beer from my TN six-pack. It is quite a good one from a great local brewery. They also have the most decorated porter ever at the GABF in their St. Charles Porter (nine medals, I think... which I've heard may be an overall record for all beers, and not just for the porter category, but I wasn't able to confirm that). I, of course, didn't send that particular beer to Kealia because he absolutely hates porters...

And here is the link to the Great American IPA Challenge.

[Kealia]

They also have the most decorated porter ever at the GABF in their St. Charles Porter (nine medals, I think... which I've heard may be an overall record for all beers, and not just for the porter category, but I wasn't able to confirm that). I, of course, didn't send that particular beer to Kealia because he absolutely hates porters...

Yep, that would have been a waste of an award-winning beer for sure.

What I really liked about the Adam Bomb is that it was good enough to be an everyday drinker, without being heavy like other IPAs can be. For example, I love Enjoy By (I know it's a IIPA) but it's too 'big' for me to drink a lot of, or very frequently. It's a great "treat" beer, but this is in that same vein for me in terms of quality, but 'lighter' if that makes sense.

[swenocha]

Exactly. I feel that way about both of our good local IPAs, this one and Yazoo's Hop Project (though, of course, that one is different every batch in terms of hop boil, but the base beer stays the same each time.). Not so big that I either feel the bloat after having or feel the need to sip on it all evening...

[Beer-lord]

I was able to pick up some Hop Projects when I was in Oxford a few months back. Any idea is Blackstone can be found in Oxford? Memphis is close so if they have it, maybe my son can pick me up a few one day.

[swenocha]

I've never been out to Memphis area, but RateBeer only shows it on tap at the Saucer and not in bottle shops. I've never known a Blackstone bottle to wander into a shop much outside the metro area of Nashville, though it appears that it makes it out to Johnson City, Chattanooga, Knoxville, etc., so it's possible that it's in Memphis in a bottle shop and just not listed. I know I was surprised to see some base Blackstone beers in Gatlinburg (at Food City, of all places), but not the Adam Bomb. I've never known any of the bottles to distribute out of state though...

[swenocha]

Forgot to say earlier...

This was a commercial beer sent to me by the little green bastard.

Dude.....this made me laugh.

Little Green Bastard... I think I've found my custom name... Louie?