April Dirty Thirty Day 25 – Sixpoint Bengali Tiger

Soooo I’ve been bad. I broke the post streak and I won’t lie to you, I missed a day of not trying a new beer. I could make excuses and I should (since I actually have an awesome excuse for once) but I won’t. I will just pick up where I left off.

Tonight’s April Dirty Thirty beer is…

Sixpoint Bengali Tiger

Sixpoint Bengali Tiger Ale

Critical Information:

• 6.4% ABV
• 62 IBUs
• 13 SRM

My Experience:

– POUR

Poured from can into pint glass. It has an orange color and is mostly transparent. It has a large, puffy white head that clings to the glass.

– SMELL

It has an aroma of fresh hops and is citrus-y.

– TASTE

It’s bitter, then hoppy, then bitter again. It’s straw-like (is that something??) and has a hint of grapefruit.

– FOOD PAIRING

Gouda cheese or Peruvian chicken. Fried yuca anyone?

Will this theory help you enjoy new beers?

Unless you’re brand new to beer (nothing wrong with that though) you know that hops are measured on a scale of bitterness. IBUs, International Bitterness Units, measure the bitter alpha acids from hops that are isomerized and dissolved during the boil.

Some beers, like Hefeweizens, have IBUs of 10-15 while Double IPAs will go to 80+ IBUs.

Randy Mosher’s Tasting Beer: An Insider’s Guide to the World’s Greatest Drink has a great graph in chapter four that shows the relationship of IBUs to Original Gravity (think the amount of alcohol in a beer. Yes, it’s more complicated than that but now’s not the time.). What I noticed that was generally the hoppier the beer, the more Original Gravity, OG, is has. Mosher describes why a lot better than I am able to.

So looking at the chart I came to this hypothesis: if you enjoy a certain beer, wouldn’t you enjoy a beer with a similar hoppiness-to-OG?

I challenge you to try this experiment. Ladies Hefeweizen lovers – try a Doppelbock. Pale Ale fans (like myself) – try a Maibock. And IPA buffs – try an Irish Dry Stout.