Time to make a dent in my beers sent to me for comment. Let’s start with a hoppy number by Minnesota’s Surly Brewing Co.: Todd the Axe Man India Pale Ale.
This metal-headed beer started as a collaboration in 2014 between Surly and Amager Bryghus of Denmark. The beer was a tribute to Surly’s brewer Todd Haug, as Amager’s Amager’s marketing director Henrik Papsø explained:
For quite some time the Amager crew has been discussing this question: which person is the most rock’n’roll in the whole craft beer world – is it Barnaby Struve of Three Floyds or is it Todd Haug of Surly Brewing? In the end it wasn’t really all that difficult to decide since only Todd has played for Laura Dern in a David Lynch movie (yeah, Nicolas Cage was in that same movie, but since when did he count?) AND Todd plays the guitar in both a speed metal band and a stoner band. Add to that that Todd and his wife Linda are some of the nicest people to hang out with.
Todd was brewed at both Amager and Surly, with the Surly version now being distributed in cans throughout Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Chicago.
This is a slightly strong India Pale Ale, at 7.2% alcohol, made with Golden Promise malt from the UK, and the American hops Citra and Mosaic.
Poured into a tulip glass, I get a strong nose full of apricot juice and pineapple, with a sidelong glance of pine needles. The beer is a cloudy golden color, kicking up a large white head that quickly subsides to a thin scrum. The taste is the expected whallop, with the fruit smell amplified by a huge blast of bitterness. Huge. If not for the slight tropical fruit leading the way, this would be overwhelming.
This is very much a hophead’s delight, a full-on West Coast style IPA that’s not for the faint of heart. Since it comes in a 16-ounce can, though, you might get enough alcohol to numb the hop sharpness and just sit back to enjoy it.
