So with no adieu today I’m jumping right into the Sweetwater IPA, a beer I’ve seen a few times at a restaurant nearby that I have saved so I don’t develop a bias. The beer pours to a delicious-looking cider-orange with a bit of cloudiness and not a lot of a head, although nice carbonation for a darker-looking brew. The smells are similar to an orchard: rich, darker fruit flavors and an underlying pine hop aroma as well. The taste is smooth but a little fruity bitterness up front, which is fine because spicy bitterness is the harsher kind which this brew does not have. The flavors mainly mimic the aromas oddly enough, with sweeter fruit flavors giving way to the piny hop finish that is pretty standard for an IPA. Definitely the better of the two Sweetwaters in this tournament, and a tough beer to beat. Quite possibly the best it could be within the confines of the IPA division.

Squaring off against Sweetwater today is an IPA from Breckenridge, a brewery that has a wide array of beers and all of them stylistically great. Today’s competitor, the Breckenridge Lucky U IPA pours to a bright reddish-orange, one of the brighter looking beers I’ve seen thus far. It has a nice 1-2 finger head that rolls out slowly but not too slowly. The aromas are less impactful than those of the Sweetwater, but a wooden caramel and a spicy citrus have more balance. The taste reveals just how hoppy this IPA is, and yet somehow they manage to temper the bitterness. Instead of loading up on spice hops I taste very distict floral, wooden, and citrus hops that are balanced on a caramel malt back which comes together to make this beer a smooth ride. This is a kick back and enjoy a hop bonanza beer that doesn’t pucker your face up. Come home from work, grab one of these, and enjoy the day.

UPDATE: Click Here for Match Results!