Beer 380 – Independence Stash IPA (2.5 stars out of 5)

Brewed and bottled by Independence Brewing Co, Austin, TX.  Bought at HEB in Katy, TX and drunk at home in Katy while modifying Pizzas for our dinner.  Sofia’s 4 cheese pizza had broccoli, mushroom and mozzarella cheese added, our meat pizza had mushrooms, spinach, turkey sausage and cheddar cheese added.  They were both good, ended up with crispy crusts and nice toppings.

Web site: http://www.independencebrewing.com/beer/stashipa.html

The web site says “STASH IPA STATS: Style: INDIA PALE ALE
Alcohol by volume: 7%
Beginning gravity: 16.5° Plato
Ending gravity: 3.0° Plato
Bitterness Units: 70 Yeast: American Ale Yeast
Bittering hops: Horizon
Finishing hops: Cascade, Amarillo, Ahtanum
Malts: Two-Row Pale,Munich, 20º Caramel, Flaked Barley

Hopped four times with Horizon, Cascade,Amarillo and Ahtanum hops, Stash IPA has floral, citrus, and pine aromas and complex, layered hop flavors. Initial grapefruit notes develop into spicy hop bitterness, and finishes with lingering fresh hop flavors. This India Pale Ale is just too good to keep a secret, so we’re sharing our Stash with the hop lovers of the world.”

Unfortunately I found this beer had too much hoppiness in the taste, it was overly bitter and that took away much of the enjoyment.

The 48 raters at RateBeer.com (http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/independence-brewing-stash-ipa/76554/) disagrred with me.  They give the beer a 3.33 weighted average score which leads to an 84^th percentile overall and a 53^rd percentile in its class of India Pale Ale (IPA)

The 44 reviewers at BeerAdvocate.com (http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10284/39263) werealso a little more pleased than me.  Their raters average came down to a B-, which classes it as worthy.  They call the style American IPA.