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| Photo: Joshua M. Bernstein |
Until a couple of weeks ago, if you wanted to pound a pint of Captain Lawrence's Captain's Reserve imperial IPA, you either had to pay a visit to the Pleasantville, N.Y., brewery or pray to a boozy deity that your local saloon was serving the ludicrously aromatic elixir.
Your prayers have been answered. The medal-winning Captain's Reserve has ditched its draft-only status, and the brewery's brand-new bottling line has begun humming. However, the Captain's not capped in the usual 12- or 22-ounce glass carafes, but instead the squat pint.
"Everyone makes beer in a 22-ounce bottle; why not be a little different?" asks head brewer Scott Vaccaro, who accentuates the beer's value at about $5. "It's a good way to get a single serving at a more reasonable price than a massive 22-ounce imperial IPA, which can cost up to $10."
We'd gladly pay that price for this righteous Reserve. Uncap the sturdy flagon (the same bottle used for that other double-IPA dream, Russian River's Pliny the Elder), pour out the golden-orange grog and you'll be struck by an 80 IBU blast of crisp, floral hops-pine tar and fresh-sliced grapefruit sprinkled with sugar.
On first taste, you'll notice that the biscuity malt backbone stands up to the bitterness. This creates a creamy, even-keeled IPA that doesn't cinch your taste buds into a stranglehold, 8 percent ABV be damned.
A drinkable double IPA? That's like catching lightning in a bottle.
What double IPAs do you crave? Spill it in the comments.
