I need to catch up with my beer reviews, since my “cellar” is not air conditioned. It keeps a cool 40°F in the winter, but gets up to 75° at a time like this. So let’s pop another beer that I purchased myself for reviewing.
Ravinia Brewing Co. has opened its pub and restaurant in Highland Park this year, while producing packaged beers at Finch brewery in Chicago. They recently resolved a kerfluffle with their use of the name “Ravinia,” after the Ravinia Festival Association demanded they change their name. The parties simply agreed that they always use the words “Ravinia Brewing,” on all signage and packaging.
Steep Ravine India Pale Ale is one of their flagship canned beers. It clocks in pretty strong, at 7.25% abv, bittered with Citra hops.
This has a kind of hazy, almost opaque, orange-amber color in my IPA tulip, with a sudsy head. The smell is inviting more than over-hopped. Some indistinct citrus or papaya, with some resin along for the ride.
The taste manages to ride along the border of an American Pale Ale and an India Pale Ale; call it the American iteration of an IPA. Its alcohol is a bit higher than most pale ales, and the malt is biscuity with notes of honey, to make it an even fight between malts and hops. It’s a good sipper for those occasional cool summer evenings.
