IPA battle

Sori IPA vs Boulevard IPA

IPA wordt tegenwoordig overal gebrouwen, zoals in Groot Brittanië, als Amerika, als (voormalig) Rusland. Ik had twee IPA's die volgens mij beide de WestCoast IPA als voorbeeld hadden/hebben.

Als eerste dronk ik de IPA van Sori, op kamertemperatuur, uit een bolleke. het betrof volgens het etiket Investor IPA, 6,9%ABV en 70 IBU. Daarna dronk ik de IPA van Boulevard Brewing, op kamertemperatuur, uit een bolleke. het betrof volgens het etiket Single Wide  IPA, 5,7%ABV en onbekende hoeveelheid IBU.

Sori
Sori Brewing is located in the capital of Estonia, Tallinn. Backed by crowdfunding investors, Sori Brewing is on a mission to make the world more fun with better craft beer. Started by two Finns who moved away from their home country to brew without compromises. Not far, but far enough to make it count (www.soribrewing.com/).

Pyry Hurula used to work in a big energy company portfolio management, making sure metropolitan Helsinki area was all lit and heated. He has always been a part-time marketing entrepreneur as well. In Sori, he’s the creative and strategic head. He’s also the one behind all the graphics. Pyry’s phone is integrated permanently to his hand and he’s devoted to connecting with our fans through social media.
Heikki Uotila used to market women’s’ shoes and flirt with bloggers and marketers for his living for one of the Europe’s biggest online retailer. Heikki was the one igniting the idea of having a brewery, but it took two to make it to reality. He was probably good with ladies shoes and all, now he is the man behind the beers and production planning.
At some point, there were three of us. After a year of learning entrepreneurship the hard way, one decided to leave for work in a lab with an another brewery. That was a great lesson about entrepreneurship for us all, it requires a lot from you and people around you. We remained still as friends and we all gained some!
Now Sori Brewing has grown to a real brewery with talented brewers and people behind the scenes working every day to push limits and create new. Steadily we grow our family and make this crazy story even bigger (www.soribrewing.com/about).

We’ve done almost everything in very unconventional ways so far. We are young. We are the one of the first ones in the world to start a brewery with a massive crowdfunding campaign. We raised 453 200 EUR through a crowdfunding we executed ourselves without any platform. All media and even many politicians commented on what we were doing. We like to think that made an impact on the Finnish alcohol policy.
Even the brewery is on the third floor and the building itself has an old Soviet-era story to tell. We sure will tell you when you come by, that there is a one of a kind story involving cruise missiles and trains gone missing.
Worst nightmare would be to be boring. That’s why we keep pushing the boundaries (www.soribrewing.com/about).

Boulevard
Boulevard Brewing Company has grown to be the largest specialty brewer in the Midwest, with full or partial distribution currently in 31 states and Washington DC. Since 1989 our brewery has remained dedicated to the craft of producing fresh, flavorful beers using traditional ingredients and the best of both old and new brewing techniques. Our selection of fine ales and lagers include the Midwest's best-selling craft beer, Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat Beer, our flagship Boulevard Pale Ale, and The Smokestack Series line of artisanal beers. We are proud to be Kansas City's Beer (www.boulevard.com/age-verify/?r=http://www.boulevard.com).


De Boulevard Brewing Company is een Amerikaanse brouwerij in Kansas City (Missouri). De brouwerij is sinds oktober 2013 eigendom van de Belgische brouwerij Duvel Moortgat.
De constructie van de brouwerij begon in 1988 door John McDonald. In een stenen gebouw van rond de eeuwwisseling in Southwest Boulevard, Kansas City, werd een brouwinstallatie opgebouwd met tweedehandse brouwketels van een failliete brouwerij in Beieren, Duitsland. Het eerste bier , de Boulevard Pale Ale, werd in de herfst van 1989 geproduceerd en in 1990 volgde de Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat Beer.
In 1999 en 2003 werd de brouwerij uitgebreid en in maart 2005 volgde een uitbreidingsproject van 20 miljoen US$ met een nieuwe brouwzaal en verpakkingseenheid naast het bestaande gebouw. De capaciteit bedroeg vanaf 2006 60.000 barrels (vaten) per jaar. In de herfst 2011 werd opnieuw 3 miljoen US$ geïnvesteerd in de originele brouwerij op Southwest Boulevard waarbij de zes 105-barrel-gisttanks werden vervangen door acht 300-barrel-gisttanks waardoor de jaarlijkse brouwcapaciteit toenam met 35.000 barrels.[2]
Op 18 oktober 2013 werd de brouwerij eigendom van Duvel Moorgat.[3] De Amerikaanse brouwerijen Boulevard Brewing Company, Brewery Ommegang (Cooperstown) en de Firestone Walker Brewing Company (sinds 2015) vormen samen de brouwerijgroep Duvel Moortgat USA. In de top-50 van 2014, gepubliceerd door de Brewers Association (BA), stond Duvel Moortgat USA op een 12de plaats in de lijst van U.S. Craft Brewing Companies en op een 18de plaats in de lijst van Overall U.S. Brewing Companies (gebaseerd op gebrouwen volume).[4]
Een aantal bieren van de brouwerij zijn sinds 2015 ook in België verkrijgbaar, zowel in cafés (op tap) als in de supermarkt (https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulevard_Brewing_Company).

All Boulevard beers begin with specially selected, carefully inspected ingredients. Our brewing process is designed to maximize flavor, from the brewhouse to the bottle, and every step along the way is continuously evaluated for its contribution to flavor and quality (www.boulevard.com/beers/about-our-beers/). Tank 7 is ook een bier van ze.

Sori Investor IPA
Brewed by Sori Brewing
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Tallinn, Estonia

Investor IPA is a big part of our story. This brewery project is funded with crowdfunding and by craft beer enthusiastic investors who share our vision and feel our passion. Investor IPA was a project name when we were introducing our brewing skills and products to potential investors. Obviously, the name stuck, so it can’t be more genuine. This is a glass raised to all those 225 people who made Sori Brewing possible. We bet you all enjoy this one.
This West Coast style tropical IPA is a dedication to our greatest influence, California and Oregon craft breweries. Using humongous amounts of the freshest hops we could get, we managed to brew a beer that came our instant personal favorite. We have used hops in every stage in brewing in order to make this a one balanced son of a hop. This IPA takes the Pacific Highway drives you through the US West Coast.
Hopped with Simcoe, Amarillo, Cascade, Centennial and Magnum hops giving it some tropical fruit, grapefruit and hints of piney notes. This west coast style IPA has 6,9% ABV and it’s fruity hops flies it all the way to 87 IBU.
This is brewed with our own equipment at Teerenpeli Brewery. Brewed without compromises and with dedication to make the West Coast style IPA all true hop heads deserve. Packed with flavor and brewed in American style. This is where we are good at (www.soribrewing.com/sori/investor-ipa).

Sori IPA bevat Amarillo, Simcoe, Cascade en Magum. De smaak van Sori IPA is fris en zeer hopbitter. Hierbij heeft de is de bitterheid harsig te noemen.
Boulevard IPA bevat vast ook een hoop hop.



Boulevard Single-Wide I.P.A.
Brewed by Boulevard Brewing Company (Duvel-Moortgat)
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Kansas City, Missouri USA
Serve in Shaker, Tulip
 ABV: 5.7%
COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION
Boulevard Single-Wide I.P.A. is our take on a style that originated in 18th century Great Britain. This American version—inspired by our Smokestack Series Double-Wide I.P.A.—boasts a heady combination of six varieties of hops, some of which were employed for dry-hopping (www.ratebeer.com/beer/boulevard-single-wide-ipa/95150/).

 Appearance
Bright golden in color with a nice, big, fluffy head. There is some nice lacing on the glass. This beer is also bottle conditioned so it has a yeasty haze to it.
Smell
A very subtle hop character that actually reminds me of a mowed yard or some kind of earthy foliage aroma. It is paired with a bit of citrus that didn’t hit me at first, and a bit more fruity smell than I was expecting.
Taste
I don’t get much sweetness in this IPA, which is good, but I really don’t get any sweetness at all. The hop bitterness attacks my tounge from front to back and the bitterness sticks to the back, but there doesn’t seem to be a malty sweetness to balance. In all honesty, it seems to be lacking a little bit on the front end of the tasting and explodes at the end. I get a little bit of pine and believe it or not, bread like, when I look deep into the flavor. It could be the yeast in the bottle.
Mouthfeel
Very zippy on the tounge, but I kind of expect that from IPA’s now. A medium bodied brew that goes down easy (http://mikesbrewreview.com/review-of-boulevard-single-wide-ipa/).

Boulevard Single-Wide I.P.A. is our take on a style that originated in 18th century Great Britain. This American version—inspired by our Smokestack Series Double-Wide I.P.A.—boasts a heady combination of six varieties of hops, some of which were employed for dry-hopping.
Color (EBC)16.2
Bitterness (IBUs)57
Original Gravity (Plato)13.2
Terminal Gravity (Plato)3
Alcohol (ABV)5.7%
CO2 - Bottles / Cans2.6 vol. (5.1 g/L)
CO2 - Kegs2.55 vol. (5.0 g/L)
A golden colored beer with a prominent flowery, grapefruit hop aroma, a moderate caramel malt flavor and a dominant hop bitterness and flavor.
AromaIntense floral, citrusy hops
MaltModerate caramel malt flavor
HopsStrong Hop bitterness and flavor
BalanceHops
BodyMedium
Ingredients
Malt: Pale Malt, Amber 50, Malted Wheat, Munich, Cara 50
Hops: Zeus, Bravo, Cascade, Centennial, Simcoe, Citra (http://www.boulevard.com/BoulevardBeers/single-wide-i-p-a/)

De smaak van Single Wide  IPA is verwarmend en bitter. De hopbitterheid is volgens mij niet harssig, maar een beetje floraal.

De smaak van Sori Investor IPA is fris en bitter, terwijl Single Wide  IPA van Boulevard Brewing en wat zwaardere donkere en doffere smaak had. De hopbittere smaak is het meest aanwezig bij Sori Als ik een 'winnaar' mag aanwijzen dan is het de IPA van Sori.

Nu moet je normaal bij een smaaktest beginnen met een laag alcoholgehalte en zo omhoog werken, maar ik deed dit hier anders. ook had het flesje van Sori tijd gehad om een dag te rusten en het bier van Boulevard niet, waardoor gistdepot anders dor het bier zal zijn verdeeld. Mogelijk heeft dat bijgedragen aan de beoordeling.


WHAT MAKES IPA SO SPECIAL?
November 28th, 2013 Heikki Uotila0
Our first batch of Investor IPA will be ready soon. Therefore, we would like to open up a bit and tell you why we love the beer style  so much.
IPA or India Pale Ale is the trendiest beer style right now. Everyone must have an IPA in their product range. Even the bulky mega-breweries are thinking of producing IPAs because sales are skyrocketing in the US (up to 36 % in the first half of 2013). GuestMetrics find IPA as the fastest-growing beer category of 2012 and it’s still going strong. Here’s our introduction to IPA and how to make it great (www.soribrewing.com/craftbeer/ipa-is-so-special).

History of IPA
There have been a lot of debate and blog posts about the history of IPA. The common story behind IPA is that it was developed in the UK for soldiers and emigrants in India in the 1800’s. Regular Pale Ale couldn’t survive the long and warm sea-trip from Europe to India. Instead, they made a new beer a bit stronger and added more hops.  The higher alcohol content and the hops acted as a preservative during the long journey.
There have been a lot of debate and blog posts about the history of IPA. Especially by people who have too much free time – and the British guys. I don’t know if you can ever find out the real story behind the style and what was it like originally. Some say, that Samuel Smith’s IPA is currently the closest to the original style, but who knows what’s the real story. All we know, it’s still a style that is going strong  (www.soribrewing.com/craftbeer/ipa-is-so-special).

What is IPA now?
These days you can find IPAs almost everywhere. Even the most traditional beer consumers, the Germans, are producing some fantastic IPAs. The current trend started from the USA and has gradually taken over the western craft beer world.
We think that all the good qualities in craft beer culminate in the best IPAs. It’s refreshing, you can have many different layers of taste and you can max it to the extreme.  It also requires expertise and craftsmanship from the brewer to make IPA work.
Here in Europe, BrewDog’s Punk IPA is probably one of the most consumed modern IPA’s. Right after, there are the American uncles such as Alesmith IPA, Ballast Point Sculpin IPA, Sierra Nevada Torpedo and so on. They all are very refreshing but at the same time there are many interesting flavors and taste layers  (www.soribrewing.com/craftbeer/ipa-is-so-special).

The secret of a great IPA
Brewers: know your microbiology, the secret for a greatness lies within.So, how to make a perfect IPA? We have experimented quite a lot with IPAs during years. There are many things that affect the end result, not just hops. For a brewer, it is always a challenge, since there are so many moving parts in the play. Here we open up, what makes an IPA so great.
Head Brewer Samu checking the original gravity
Malt base is probably the most crucial part to make a great IPA. Especially – how to get the right mouth feel, texture and appearance for the beer.  Most European IPAs seemed to differ with the Americans and we wanted to find out why. Here in Finland, a common IPA is pretty dark brown and malty. We are not very into that, but right now we are close to where we want it to be with our Investor IPA – clear petrol color and great mouth feel.
Hops, hops, hops. These give beer the attitude!
Hops, hops and hops. There seem to be some trendy hop varieties currently and some are always popular. Even though hoppy beers are great, there are still some limits. If you go too crazy, you’ll easily get cat piss. Some like to take it to that extreme point, we don’t. Delicate hop balance is the key, you just can’t max everything.
Yeast and water. Yeast is the soul of a beer. It’s a shame, how little some brewers have understanding on their yeast. Some may never control or understand the quality of their yeast, or have in-depth understanding of the yeast processes. The base of all, the water chemistry, seems to be even a bigger black box for brewers. Brewers: know your microbiology, the secret for a greatness lies within.
In our opinion, water chemistry is the number one key to great IPA. You can make good one without understanding your water – but in making of an excellent IPA, you need to be a pro.
Sori Investor IPA
2,5 kg of hops in 300 liters of fresh and pure water with great malt base makes this one a beast.It has been a struggle to find free capacity in Finnish breweries. On the other hand it’s great to see that business is blooming and Finnish breweries are doing great. However, we were finally able to find one and made a small batch of our Investor IPA in Kuninkaankartano Brewery.
The West Coast -style Investor IPA itself has very much crisp citrus and tropical aroma. It has 7.2% ABV, about 78 theoretical IBUs and it has a ton of aroma from dry hops. We made it with a San Diego yeast strain, using hops like Magnum, Simcoe, Amarillo, Cascade and Centennial and four different kinds of malts. And of course, we made sure that the water was perfect.
This is a tribute for all the inspirational beers that we have had over the years when planning our brewery. It’s the kind of beer that we love and enjoy, but it’s rarely made by Europeans. Over the years we have made quite a few test batches with this recipe and we’ve let beer-heads to taste it – and they love it. Hopefully, the new batch from Kuninkaankartano is even better, since we tuned a bit our recipe to make it even more aromatic. 2,5 kg of hops in 300 liters of fresh and pure water with great malt base makes this one a beast.
What makes our IPA different? Investor IPA is the whole idea of our brewery put into a beer. It is a beer without compromises. It’s playful, refreshing, easily drinkable but not boring. It’s full of questions like: Do you like this? Do you feel the craftsmanship behind it? Would you like some more? Is this what you value in craft beer? Does this support your values and taste preferences?
If most of the points are yes, then maybe you should check out our investor page. In other words, this beer’s purpose is to say: We know our stuff. We have the skills and the passion. Do you want to join the ride and be part of a great journey? (www.soribrewing.com/craftbeer/ipa-is-so-special)

Maar nog even resumé de hopvergelijking:
Sori IPA bevat Amarillo, Simcoe, Cascade en Magum.
Boulevard IPA bevat Zeus, Bravo, Cascade, Centennial, Simcoe, Citra.

Zou ik single hop bier moeten gaan proberen , om te zien welke hop mijn favoriet is?