Latitude 48 IPA: Deconstructed
I am quite fond of Samuel Adams' Latitude 48 IPA. The name, Latitude 48, relates to the hop growing region, or "hop belt", of the Northern Hemisphere. Each of the five hops contained in the beer come from countries across this zone.
Follow this link to visualize the line across North America and Western Europe. I guess I never realized just how far north the 48 is, as it runs just north of the continental US, south of the UK and right through the middle of France.
Anyway, enough with the geography...I don't know who it was, but someone at Sam Adams had a great idea of "deconstructing" the hops in Latitude 48. Enter, Latitude 48 IPA: Deconstructed.
Each of the five hops takes center stage in their own IPA, allowing the drinker to really understand the unique hop flavor of each variety. Since the grain bill for all of the beers is the same, the only difference is the impact of the individual hop. It is a hop lesson in a box.
Lessons are best learned with a friend (Note: Mostly non-embrassing ones). Since Dave is huge IPA fan, we decided to get learned together and embark on the deconstruction.
Five hops are used: Ahtanum, East Kent Golding, Hallertau Mittelfrueh, Simcoe and Zeus.
We poured tasters from each of the bottles and lined them up alphabetically. I was determined not to mix everything up, as visually, the beers are all identical.
When brewing, I am always quick to smell the hops. I try to retain the scent, in order to haphazardly place it months down the road when the beer is ready. This process, is pretty much the same thing, but in reverse.
Here's how I summed up the hops:
Ahtanum - Slightly sweet, with a little bit of fruit and pine. Alpha Acids (the measuring of hop bitterness) between 4 - 6.5%
East Kent Golding - These I have growing on my hop trellis. Sweet, but quite mellow. The hops really hit on the finish, as most of the bitterness was probably boiled off due to the lower AA of 5%.
Hallertau Mittelfrueh - A well rounded hop, which allowed the piney bitterness to balance nicely with the sweetness of the malt. Packs a fairly low AA of 3.75%
Simcoe - I believe the note to myself was "balls to the walls hop". You can tell, or at least I believe, this is why Simcoe is a bittering hop and added early on in the boil. It's AA of 13% is incredibly strong. You can't miss it.
Zeus - Had a very earthy, floral taste to it. Bold and bitter, is an accurate reflection of its 15% AA. Between the two high AAs, I liked Zeus a lot more...at least when it's on its own, that is.
We had an absolute blast with the tasting. I wish other brewer's did this sort of experimentation. I mean, can you imagine a Hopslam deconstruction tasting?
My thanks again to Dave for attending "school". We wrapped up the night with all of the hops back in a true Latitude 48 and after tasting them all separate, it was quite fun identfying their place in the final product.
This all started when I was lucky enough to find the Deconstructed pack at Belmont Party Supply. If you also happen to inadvertently stumble on one, I implore you to pick it up and host your own tasting with friends. You will not be disappointed and like us, learn a few things along the way.
