Summit - Saga India Pale Ale

BEER REPORT CARD - Summit - Saga India Pale Ale - 6.4% ABV

As I'm still on an IPA kick right now, I saw this at the liquor store tonight and being a fan of Summit and never hearing of it before, I was very excited to try it.

"Our Condolences To The Smelling Impaired", this is what comes up on the Summit website about this beer and they aren't kidding. As soon as I opened the bottle I am overwhelmed by the smell the hops......and it's awesome. When I poured it into my glass, I was kind of surprised at how light the body looks for it being a strong IPA and fairly heavy in alcohol content. I do really like how Summit provides a scale for their beers if you were to research it ahead of time (which I did not):

On my first sip, I immediately catch that strong, bitter hop taste and while it may have caught me off guard, I really liked it. It's almost like drinking whiskey straight, it gets easier after every sip.

Not an actual picture of my wife - my contract
states that I have to say that

Knowing that my wife is a) curious of new beers I bring home, and b) doesn't like IPA's because of how bitter it is, I couldn't help but offer her some saying that she should try it. She took the tiniest sip and immediately gave the scrunched up, bitter beer face look. I wanted to act shocked and concerned, but all that came out was laughter as she immediately put the glass back down on the counter.....guess we'll try next time.

There is a slight fruity flavor, but is definitely overpowered by the hops. I was eating some spicy foods as well and found out that the hoppier the beer is, the less it helps with spicy foods, so if there was a grade for that, it would be an F.

I do like beers with a good hop taste, while this did have that (and I did enjoy the beer) it was almost a little too much after a couple, especially with food, so that is the only part that is keeping this from a higher grade.

Overall Grade: B