Beer of the Week: Boom City FAB IPA, 5 Rights Brewing, Marysville
Published 3:30 am Friday, July 1, 2016
Boom City FAB IPA
5 Rights Brewing, Marysville
Style: Double IPA
Stats: 7.2 percent ABV, 109 IBU
Available: On tap at the brewery, NYP Bar and Grill in Everett
My thoughts: Fourth of July is a big deal in Marysville. They don’t call it Boom City for nothing after all. So when R.J. Whitlow opened his brewery, 5 Rights Brewing, out of his garage in Marysville he knew he had to brew something to pay homage to the big bangs and colorful displays he and all of his neighbors witnessed each Fourth.
The Boom City FAB IPA is a big beer that honors that history. At 109 IBUs, Boom City hits your tongue like a mortar shell. The thing is, unlike Fourth of July, the hop intensity backs off, creating a balanced finish of hops and malts. Last Fourth of July, 5 Rights sold out of Boom City quickly, so don’t hesitate.
It’s been a big year for Whitlow and his wife, Kristi. They’re celebrating their one-year anniversary over the Fourth of July weekend and recently won a bronze medal for their Nellie’s Nectar at the Washington Brewers Festival. The true-to-style Bavarian hefeweizen is on tap at Brat from Deutschland in Lake Stevens.
I enjoyed Boom City, but while I was at 5 Rights head brewer Whitlow gave me a sample of Bakuhatsu IPA. Full of citrus and pine notes, Bakuhatsu is a really well-balanced IPA that is fruitier and lighter than Boom City. Both IPAs are really good, but I’d probably lean toward the Bakuhatsu, named after a Japanese volcano.
Whether you get something from 5 Rights or somewhere else this Fourth of July, make sure you’re sober before you set off any fireworks. Also, get a designated driver if you’re drinking. Happy Birthday, America!
From the brewery: As a tribute to the aggressive pyrotechnic displays we get to experience this time in Marysville we made an equally aggressive, massively dry-hopped explosive flavors of citrus and tropical fruit.
