Sunday Night Suds - Samuel Adams Double Agent IPL

This week's Sunday Night Suds and the last post on this blog until after the Pesach holiday, looks at the Samuel Adams Double Agent IPL. 

This beer is one of the newest Samuel Adams products and can be found in the 2013 Spring Thaw Box, which also contains last year's new seasonal - Alpine Spring (reviewed here http://kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2012/01/belated-sunday-night-suds-samuel-adams.html); the overly sweet Maple Pecan Porter (reviewed here http://kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2013/02/sunday-night-suds-samuel-adams-maple.html); the vastly underrated Irish Red Ale (reviewed here http://kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2008/10/sunday-night-suds-samuel-adams-irish.html); the Boston Lager flagship brew and one other new for 2013 beer - White Lantern. 

I must admit that when I bought this beer I had little idea what I was getting myself into. I had never seen an IPL before, but when I saw that there were new Samuel Adams beers which (for a change) actually had the Star-K on the label, I invested some of the beer fund and bought a bottle of the IPL and a bottle of the White Lantern. 

What is an IPL? The experts as BA classify this as an American Pale Lager, which they note is "sometimes referred to as "all-malt," this category of beer refers to lagers brewed without cereal adjuncts (mainly rice or corn). Though often still yellow and fizzy, these beers will display a broader depth of malt flavor and a more complex bitterness vs. their adjunct counterparts." 

With all due deference to the experts at BA, the IPL is clearly not an American Pale Lager and is unlike any lager that I have ever tasted. The beer poured a light orange (think Crayola's Maize crayon) with a good amount of foam. There is a nice amount of citrusy hops which hits right at the first sip. It is not as strong as a traditional IPA, but it is like no lager I have ever tasted.

The label of the bottle gives a little hint as to the character of the brew as it supposes - what if we gave an IPA a new identity and used some of our favorite West Coast hops, with their grapefruit, piney & tropical fruit character, in a a lager? 

My answer to the question proposed by Samuel Adams is ... it would not be a lager. It would be a IPA without some of the alcohol taste and content (only 5% abv).

The Samuel Adams Double Agent IPL is under the Kosher Supervision of the Star-K and has a Star-K certification mark on the label. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about this brew, please follow this link - http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35/88429. 

As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver. If you've tried this beer or any others which have been reviewed on the kosher beers site, please feel free to post your comments (anonymous comments are acceptable).

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