Speakeasy Big Daddy I.P.A. - Beer of the Week

by Joshua M. Bernstein, Posted Jan 4th 2010 @ 5:00PM

While pseudo-speakeasies concocting perfectly calibrated cocktails may be an unstoppable trend, we prefer a different kind of cloak-and-dagger operation: Speakeasy Ales & Lagers, one of the Bay Area's top breweries. Since its 1997 inception, Speakeasy has won suds fans with its full-bodied beers fashioned in steam-fired stainless steel tanks and kettles, then aged in a cool cellar.

Though the malty, generously hopped Prohibition Ale and the citrus-wheat White Lightning Wit are winners, we pine for the super-drinkable Big Daddy I.P.A. Ho-hum, you think, yet another bitter India pale ale. But hear us out, for Daddy is not your normal mouth-puckering ale.

"Compared to other IPAs, Big Daddy is quite dry, so its profile is novel and completely out of style," says Speakeasy president Forest Gray. "We are not interested in making beers that are difficult to drink, just so we can say that it is hoppier than someone else's beer. We pride ourselves on the fact that one can actually drink Speakeasy beers and enjoy them."

And we definitely enjoy Daddy. The pale-gold ale (6.5 percent ABV, about 50 IBUs) packs a juicy citrus scent, with a touch of malts tossed in for balance. The taste is a hop wallop -- grapefruit sweetened with a sprinkling of sugar -- but Daddy still drinks crisp and as dry as a desert afternoon, with the bitterness lingering like a lush at last call.

Once again, Daddy knows best.

What other West Coast IPAs do you crave? Spill it in the comments.

Joshua M. Bernstein has written about brews, bars and booze for New York Magazine, Time Out New York, ForbesTraveler.com and the New York Times.

Filed Under: Reviews, Drinks
Tags: beer, lager, pale ale, speakeasy