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Beer Menu: Pick One Abita Amber Abita Purple Haze Abita Turbo Dog Alaskan Amber Anchor Liberty Ale Anchor Steam Anheuser World Select Aventinus Dunkel Weizenbock Bass Ale Beamish Irish Stout Beck's Oktoberfest Bitburger Boddington's Pub Ale Breckenridge Avalanche Ale Breckenridge Oatmeal Stout Brooklyn Pilsner B to the E Bud Light Budweiser Caffrey's Irish Ale Carta Blanca Coors Light Corona Extra DeGroen's Dunkles DeGroen's Weizen Dos Equis Fat Tire Amber Ale Flying Dog Doggie Style Pale Ale Fuller's 1845 Ale Grant's Lazy Days Guinness Stout Hard Core Hard Cider Harp Lager Heineken Special Dark Hoegaarden Imperial JW Dundee's Honey Brown Killian's Irish Red La Fin du Monde Michelob Winter Sampler Pack Michelob Ultra Modelo Especial Moretti La Rossa Murphy's Irish Red Negra Modelo New Amsterdam Black & Tan North Coast Old No. 38 Ommegang Otter Creek Copper Ale Pabst Blue Ribbon Paulaner Oktoberfest Marzen Paulaner Salvator Doppelbock Penn Dark Lager Penn Pilsner Pete's Wicked Oktoberfest Pete's Wicked Strawberry Blonde Pete's Wicked Summer Brew Pete's Wicked Winter Brew Pilsner-Urquell Presidente Pyramid IPA Rolling Rock Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat Samuel Adams Cream Stout Samuel Adams Octoberfest Samuel Adams Pale Ale Samuel Adams Spring Ale Samuel Adams Summer Ale Samuel Adams Weiss Beer Samuel Adams Winter Classics Sapporo Shiner Bock Shiner Summer Stock Shiner Winter Ale Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Singha Spaten Oktoberfest St. Arnold Christmas Ale St. Arnold Spring Bock Superior Tecate Tequiza Trippel Belgian Style Ale Woodchuck Granny Smith Cider Young's Oatmeal Stout Young's Old Nick Barleywine Ale Yuengling Bitter is Better. Main Beer Page The Top Six Pack: Caffrey's Irish Ale 10.09 Hoegaarden 9.74 Presidente 9.74 Imperial 9.72 Boddington's Pub Ale 9.61 Harp Lager 9.51 All Beers Listed By Rank Beer Terminology Rated 7.14 by 14 Beer Drinkers.   Rate & Post A Comment Below. A Taste of Hops and Empire in a Glass of Pyramid IPA by Belly Buddy Mark Stevens At A Glance Beer: Pyramid India Pale Ale Pros: Full frontal assault of hop aroma, flavor, and bitterness Cons: A little too soft and refined for me The Bottom Line: It's big, it's hoppy, it's definitely all things humulus and lupulus. A solid, well-crafted, deliciously bitter IPA. Recommended: Yes. Strolling through the beer store the other day, I was in the mood for something big, bold, and aggressive as a Bengal tiger. It's been too long since I've assaulted my tongue with the gloriously bitter flavors of an India pale ale, so I reached for a six of the Pyramid IPA -- a beer that I've always liked, but haven't sampled in a while. Let's take a look and see whether or not my fond memories are just due to killed brain cells... What an India Pale Ale Should Be... Lots of beers are labeled "India Pale Ale" or "IPA", and what they should have in common is big, bold hop signature. The best IPAs have, in my view, big hop aroma, big hop flavor, and a long lingering hop bitterness. I want hops, hops, and then more hops. The style may have originated with English breweries making big, hoppy beers that could withstand a trip to India, but today's big English brewers usually make anemic tasting IPAs. In my opinion, the very, very best IPAs available today are those from American craft brewers. What these beers have in common is the ability to celebrate the wonderful range of bitter flavors and aromas that hops bring to beer. The beers are balanced with a firm, clean malt body, and they can range from normal gravity (12 Plato) to a fairly substantial body (16 Plato or so). While some brewers think a hopping rate in the 30-40 IBU range is acceptable for an IPA, I find it woefully inadequate, preferring those beers that hop to 50, 60, 70 IBUs or more...I like my hops... A Tall, Cool Glass of Pyramid IPA So let's pull down a nice clean pint glass and pour this beer, shall we? Appearance: This is a very tawny, deep golden color -- almost an amber. I'd guess that it's around 9 or 10 on the SRM scale. The IPA pours with a dense creamy head and shows just a trace of haze. Aroma: The strong citric scent of grapefruit practically knocked me off my feet on that first sniff out of the bottle! Coming back to it later, it still comes across as strongly citric, but with a little bit of sweetness to temper it. Flavor: I love the way the hops come at you from every angle on this beer. I get the hop flavor right off the bat, with the strong grapefruit signature of American hop varieties (such as Cascade, Columbus, Centennial, or their ilk). A wonderfully delicious flavor to start off a beer, and I love the way it just shifts to a deep-seated bitterness that coats my tongue and hangs in there all the way down my throat. It almost seems to warm my stomach with luscious bitter essence. Long, long, long after I swallow that last drop I can taste and feel the bitterness just coating my mouth and letting me enjoy the flavor long after I swallow. This is exactly the kind of total bitter sensation that I think makes a great IPA. I would hate to hazard a guess as to just how much bitterness this beer packs, but it's up there. Gotta be 65 IBUs or more...could be lots more. Mmmm....hops! Pyramid IPA is a full bodied beer. I get a lot of malt sweetness in there, with an unmistakable kiss of caramel malt. I would guess that this beer has a starting gravity in the 15 degree Plato range, especially since the alcohol level on it is 6.7 percent. There's a ton of malt, but with all the hops in this brew -- it needs it. When I swirl the beer around in my mouth, I get just tons and tons of soft malty sweetness. Even with all that malt, the balance is perfect for this style -- intensely bitter, make no mistake about it. Verdict: I am very impressed with this IPA. It just comes at me with a full frontal assault of hop flavor, but then flanks me with that deep seated long-lasting bitterness. There's no way I can shake the impression of hops (not that I want to anyway). I've always held that a good IPA is one that is hugely hopped. In fact, I prefer the brands that are almost insanely hopped. For a mass market IPA, I think Pyramid IPA hits just about the perfect balance a brewer can achieve, however, I'd like it to be a little bit cleaner with a little bit more malt complexity (rather than the straightforward caramel and pale flavor that this has). In the right mood, I'd rank this as a 5-star beer. In a more sober mood, I'd compare it to beers like Victory Hop Devil and I'd find it a little rough at the edges. A great beer, make no mistake, but I think I'm at the 4-star level with it today. About Pyramid Breweries... I've got to get used to this brave new world of corporate craft brewing. I keep wanting to think of Pyramid as the Hart Brewing Company of Kalama Washington. Nowadays, it's more like the Pyramid brewpubs of Seattle WA and Berkeley CA. Pyramid beers have come a long way since their start back in 1984 as a small enthusiast-run microbrewery. Today, Pyramid beers are available in more than 20 states and Pyramid claims a total enterprise-wide capacity well in excess of 100,000 barrels. Official info is on their website. This review first appeared on Epinions. Rated 7.14 by 14 Beer Drinkers. Add Your Own Comment There are 9 Drinker Comments - Last 10 Displayed View All 8 Scrappy» Pyramid IPA is fantastic. I'd rate it higher, but Dogfish 90 Minute IPA is a cut above. 8 Octoberfest» Outstanding Pale Ale. I once had the priviledge of playing beer pong with Pyramid, I felt so spoiled. Crisp and rewarding with an aftertaste 6 Synthobsession» Not the best IPA, but its alright. Stone IPA is the best. 8 Limeybeee» Pyramid make some very good beers, personally I like this beer but Pyramid have some beers that are much better. Their seasonal Snow Cap is to die for as is the D.P.A but you MUST have it on nitro! 7 Chooch» This is a decent beer. Their heff is a little better. 8 Fred» This review gets a 9.63 on the PP (pedantic poseur) scale. 8 maestro» this is a good, good beer. Reminds me a lot of that amazing IPA from the Malt Shovel brewery in Sydney. Just enjoy it ... I certainly do. 8 davebach» I'm liking IPA's more and more and this is very good. It's hard to find in the north east though. 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Use our new forum ⇒ Beer Menu: Pick One Abita Amber Abita Purple Haze Abita Turbo Dog Alaskan Amber Anchor Liberty Ale Anchor Steam Anheuser World Select Aventinus Dunkel Weizenbock Bass Ale Beamish Irish Stout Beck's Oktoberfest Bitburger Boddington's Pub Ale Breckenridge Avalanche Ale Breckenridge Oatmeal Stout Brooklyn Pilsner B to the E Bud Light Budweiser Caffrey's Irish Ale Carta Blanca Coors Light Corona Extra DeGroen's Dunkles DeGroen's Weizen Dos Equis Fat Tire Amber Ale Flying Dog Doggie Style Pale Ale Fuller's 1845 Ale Grant's Lazy Days Guinness Stout Hard Core Hard Cider Harp Lager Heineken Special Dark Hoegaarden Imperial JW Dundee's Honey Brown Killian's Irish Red La Fin du Monde Michelob Winter Sampler Pack Michelob Ultra Modelo Especial Moretti La Rossa Murphy's Irish Red Negra Modelo New Amsterdam Black & Tan North Coast Old No. 38 Ommegang Otter Creek Copper Ale Pabst Blue Ribbon Paulaner Oktoberfest Marzen Paulaner Salvator Doppelbock Penn Dark Lager Penn Pilsner Pete's Wicked Oktoberfest Pete's Wicked Strawberry Blonde Pete's Wicked Summer Brew Pete's Wicked Winter Brew Pilsner-Urquell Presidente Pyramid IPA Rolling Rock Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat Samuel Adams Cream Stout Samuel Adams Octoberfest Samuel Adams Pale Ale Samuel Adams Spring Ale Samuel Adams Summer Ale Samuel Adams Weiss Beer Samuel Adams Winter Classics Sapporo Shiner Bock Shiner Summer Stock Shiner Winter Ale Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Singha Spaten Oktoberfest St. Arnold Christmas Ale St. Arnold Spring Bock Superior Tecate Tequiza Trippel Belgian Style Ale Woodchuck Granny Smith Cider Young's Oatmeal Stout Young's Old Nick Barleywine Ale Yuengling

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