Centennial IPA

Image courtesy of Founder’s Brewing Company

Centennial IPA (Founder’s Brewing Company, Grand Rapids, MI) is one of those beers you read about that you just have to try.  I read about it in All About Beer magazine and the review was too tempting to ignore.  I was not disappointed.  Centennial IPA‘s honey gold and hazy appearance is immediately appealing, and the way it shows off  it huge, fluffy, lacey, white head dares you not to get a beer mustache.  Lots of fine suspended particulate matter slowly drifts by, powered by a light carbonation.  It’s also generously dry-hopped for your pleasure.  Centennial IPA has a citrusy, piney hop bouquet and a firm malt foundation.  The bouquet is great, full and pleasantly fragrant.  You can feel the thick sweetness on the tongue before actually tasting it, but hoppy bitterness quickly overtakes that sensation, and then the hops give way to more sweetness.  A dry finish and lingering bitterness wraps up the experience.  Centennial IPA is a complex, flavorful and well-crafted brew.  More evidence that Founder’s is one of the best brewers in one of the best brewing states in the nation.

90/100 IPA