Great Lakes Commodore Perry IPA

Brewed By: Great Lakes Brewing Company in Cleveland, Ohio
Purchased: Single bottle (12oz) from Jewel-Osco in Chicago, IL; 2012
Style/ABV: India Pale Ale, 7.5%

Who is Commodore Perry? He is Oliver Hazard Perry, and he was a United States Navy Commodore famous for leading American forces in a definite victory at the Battle of Lake Erie, in the War of 1812. This victory was a turning point in the battle for the west in the War. Today's beer is an English India Pale Ale as per the Fuggle hops used to brew this beer. This is one of Great Lakes' year-round offerings.

Great Lakes Brewing Company was founded on September 6th, 1988, brothers Patrick Daniel and Conway Daniel. It became the first microbrewery in the state of Ohio. The brewery expanded both in 1992 and 1998, and in 2010 and 2011 the brewery spent over 7 million dollars to improve their brewery and brewery equipment. The brewery produces over 100,000 barrels annuals, and serves 13 states and Washington D.C.. According to the Brewers Association "top 50 breweries list" from 2010, Great Lakes Brewing Company is ranked #22 for beer sales as a craft brewer, and #31 for beer sales in general (in America). You can take a stroll to the Great Lakes Brewing history page to get the full story about the brewery.

If you roll over to the Great Lakes Commodore Perry page, you can find some information about the beer. The beer is brewed to honor Commodore Perry, and the beer is described as both "distinctive and highly decorated." Great Lakes gives a brief history of the style, stating that the India Pale Ale originated in The Bow Brewery in London, and was exported to British soldiers in India. The beer's high alcohol and hop content reduced the likelihood that the beer would spoil, and made it ideal to be shipped across the world. This is basically the accepted history of the IPA, although there is certainly some debate depending on which source you seek out. This beer is brewed with Simcoe (bittering), Fuggle (English hop flavor), and Cascade (citrus/grapefruit) hops, and is described as tasting medium-bodied, well hopped, dry, and fruity. This beer clocks in at 7.5% ABV, and packs 70 IBUs. Let's dig in and see how this stacks up.

Great Lakes Commodore Perry IPA

In terms of appearance, I'm kind of reminded of the Ranger IPA I recently reviewed. This beer pours with 3-fingers worth of super foamy, thick, white head. The head is made up of small bubbles, and is much more foamy than soapy. As the head pulls away, there is a ton of lacing on the glass. In low light the head is eggshell colored, in bright light it is white. In low light the beer is more of an amber/golden color, but when held to a bright white light the beer is a wonderful golden-yellow color. There is quite a bit of carbonation rising upwards in the form of tiny bubbles, and the beer is transparent. Head retention and lacing are great.

The aroma is fruity, spicy, and citrusy. I'm pulling out pine, orange, tangerine, some Simcoe notes that aren't pee, a very mild and pleasant fresh orange note that reminds me of orange candies, some pale or grain malt that is playing off the oranges creating a bready and sweet note, and some earthy and mild English hop notes. There is some pungent or oily bitterness in here, but overall this smells fruity and fresh.

Wow, this is quite bitter and pungent, but in a good way with huge hop flavors that really dominate your front and middle palate. The back palate is awesome, with a huge malty finish that is reminiscent of bread, toasted bread, and candied oranges. The finish is bitter and dry, but malt balanced (oddly enough). I'm pulling out pungent and slightly oily grapefruit, orange, tangerine, candied oranges on the middle, pine, hints of mint, mild English hop bite, and some woody and dry notes. This is bitter, but smooth and creamy and balanced by malts. You pick up toasted malts on the back.

This is bitter and sweet, but the palate depth on this is amazing. It really is a palate depth experience. The flavors just assault your palate up front, and never really let up. In terms of mouthfeel, this is medium-full, well carbonated, and smooth. The finish is drying and bitter, but it is not bone dry. Aside from the great palate depth, complexity is medium. Up front is a citrus wallop with some additional hop flavors; this rolls into that sweet middle, with more hops and burgeoning malts; the back end is bitter, pungent, toasted malts, bitter orange hops, and a bitter and dry finish that leaves an aftertaste of malts and hops. At 7.5% ABV, this is very drinkable, and you really don't feel the 70 IBUs.

Rating: Above-Average

Score: 88%

I expend many words to describe the beer I am drinking. To simplify, I would describe this beer as: fruity, balanced, pungent and bitter but pleasant, and easy drinking for the style. And man is that palate depth something. 

Considering that this beer packs 70 IBUs, this drinks incredibly light. This is bitter, but I don't feel like my palate has been assaulted. And that's a good thing. I plan to drink this again, and I'm having a great time trying Great Lakes beers because so far they all have been beyond good. So with that said, until next time, cheers.