Our Beer of the Month for September is a new fall seasonal from Tröegs Brewing Company in Harrisburg, PA. There is a lot of buzz surrounding this beer, and most of it has already been bought up. But it may be something that we have to look forward to again next year. This beer comes from experience; Tröegs has been working on developing a beer using their “Scratch Series,” one-off beers that are released at the brewery only. Perpetual IPA is the result of that effort. From their website:
“In our constant evolution as a brewery, we’ve developed an undying drive to meld the organic and mechanical. Perpetual IPA utilizes our hopback and dry-hopping to engineer a bold Imperial Pale Ale. Straw in color and bittered with an abundance of citrus and spicy hops. ’Perpetual IPA is a tribute to building our new brewery and our desire to continue exploring’, says John Trogner Brewmaster and Founder.”
In the “beer geek” community, this labeling of their beer as an “Imperial Pale Ale” has caused quite a bit of discussion. This labeling blurs style guidelines and typical beer nomenclature as there really is no such thing as an “Imperial Pale Ale,” and yet here is an IPA that fits the bill stylistically. Almost as if Tröegs was mocking the whole concept of rigid style guidelines, they chose to spell out their “IPA” and make their beer drinkers think about what, if anything, separates this from a Pale Ale, or American IPA, or even a Double IPA? In the end, beer drinkers will throw up their hands and declare “Who cares?!?! It’s beer. Relax. Don’t worry.” (Intentional reference to Charlie Papazian)
For readers who don’t know what a hopback is, this is a device that is utilized between the brew kettle and the wort chiller. The brewer adds hops at different intervals while their unfinished beer, known as wort (pronounced ‘wert’), is boiling in the kettle. This stage in the brewing process is where beer gets its bitterness and hop aroma from. However, as this liquid is boiling, the oils from the hops that contribute to aroma are largely boiled off. Brewers who use a hopback are passing the hot wort through a filter and into an air-tight container filled with fresh hops, which give those volatile aroma oils nowhere to go but into the beer itself, and the liquid is then immediately sent to the wort chiller and cooled down on its way to the fermenter.
From the first moment you pour Tröegs’ Perpetual IPA, you can see the effectiveness of the hopback and dry-hopping process. The foam on top of this beer is dense and has a creamy, almost froth-like texture that sticks all over the side of the glass, a good indication that this beer contains HOPS and a lot of them! The aroma jumps out of the glass at you with big, bold citrusy smells and notes of tropical fruit. There is a light malt sweetness here as well that backs up the hoppy aroma. The expectation is something extremely bitter and over the top, but thankfully, Tröegs created a big beer without making it taste that way. We have a soft textured body and a full malt profile that is well in balance with the exotic hop character. This beer has created quite a bit of buzz ad it isn’t hard to see why. The West Coast has always held the reigns when it comes to excessively hopped beers, but Tröegs is showing that it knows how to compete, and finally the East Coast is boasting a hoppy beer that the West Coast is talking about.
Brewers Specs:
Alcohol By Volume: 7.5%
International Bitterness Units: 85
Color: Straw to Golden
Malts: Pilsner, Crystal 80, Munich
Hops: Bravo, Chinook, Mt. Hood
Dry-Hops: Citra, Cascade, Nugget
Hopback Hops: Mt. Hood, Nugget
Yeast: House Ale Yeast
Ideal Serving Temp: 50-55°F
Glassware: Pint, Imperial Pint
