Spinal Hop
Sound to Summit Brewing, Snohomish
Style: Triple IPA
Stats: 11 percent ABV, 111 IBU
Available: Soon to be on tap at the brewery, Pete’s Liquor and Wine, Elliott Bay Pizza (Mill Creek), Moonshine BBQ, The Independent Beer Bar, Malt and Vine and Naked City Brewery &Taphouse.
My thoughts: This is without a doubt one of the biggest beers you’ll ever taste. Stick your nose over the rim of the glass and it smells like you’re diving headfirst into a bag of fresh hops. I started salivating after the first taste.
At 11 percent ABV and 111 IBU, only the most hop-hardened beer drinker would pick this beer off a menu. But the funny thing is, this beer is approachable. It has hop flavor that carries throughout and the alcohol flavor is very slight.
Sound to Summit head brewer Grady Warnock said his goal when brewing Spinal Hop was to get all the ratios right, from the hops to the malt backbone and yeast.
I’d say mission accomplished. It’s malty without being cloyingly sweet and the hop profile is both dank, and bright and floral. Not an easy balance to make with all the ingredients involved in making this beer.
Warnock scaled Spinal Hop up from a recipe similar to Sound to Summit’s 6 Gill IPA. The similarities are evident. Both are darker and danker than classic West Coast IPAs, and both have a strong piney bitterness quality that lingers.
From the brewery: A hop-forward triple IPA boasting a large citrus and piney aroma upon supportive caramel, malty backbone. We cranked this one up to 11, as the name implies. The bite will make you want to drink another one!
More new releases
The Half Monty, At Large Brewing: A session black IPA made with Simcoe and Citra hops. Available at the brewery.
Nitro Red, Scuttlebutt Brewing: An aggressively hopped red ale poured on nitro, making the beer balanced, creamy and complex. Available at the restaurant and taproom.
Industrial Island Rye IPA, Diamond Knot Brewery: An industrial rye IPA aged in Cadee Whiskey barrels. Available on tap at the brewery.
Triple Rainbow, Foggy Noggin Brewing: Skittles are added in the last 15 minutes of the boil of this big IPA. Available on tap at the brewery.
— Aaron Swaney, Special to The Herald
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