Samuel Adams Rebel IPA

Brewed By: Boston Beer Company in Boston, Massachusetts 
Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 6-pack bought at Binny's in IL; 2014
Style/ABV: American IPA, 6.5%

Reported IBUs: 45

I was gonna jump into a big ass Winter Warmer tonight, but the Rebel IPA has been on everyone's radar thanks to some controversy from Looganetoes founder, Tony Magee. You can read about the drama here, and here. Honestly...I don't care very much, the real question is: is the Rebel IPA any good? About Sam Adams:

The Boston Brewing Company/Sam Adams is, of course, the brain child of Jim Koch (and Harry M. Rubin and Lorenzo Lamadrid). Founded in 1984, Jim Koch got the ball rolling after college when he decided to resurrect and brew his favorite family recipe. That recipe belonged to his great-great grandfather, Louis Koch, and dates back to the 1870s (where it was brewed in a St. Louis brewery). That infamous family brew is the Sam Adams Boston Lager, of course. You can read more about the history of the Boston Brewing Company HERE, or check out their website HERE.  

The Rebel IPA is well within the threshold of an American IPA. The bottle states some totally lame bullshit, "West Coast Style Brewed For The Revolution," implying that there is some sort of west coast style or revolution. I guess the revolution is Sam Adams decided to harden the fuck up and brew an IPA? Whatever. This one is brewed with Cascade, Simcoe, Chinook, Centennial, and Amarillo hops. The American hop dream, yo. The malt base is Sam Adams two-row pale malt blend and Caramel 60, and this is fermented with Sam Adams Ale Yeast. 

Samuel Adams Rebel IPA

The beer pours into a golden/bronze/amber body, kicking up three fingers of gold-tinted head. The head is fluffy and soapy, and is hanging around nicely. As the head does fall off, you are left with tons of lacing. This beer is filtered and sort of blandly transparent with lazy carbonation. Bright light confirms the same stuff. 

The bottle art is a departure from your usual Sam Adams affair. It reminds me of BrewDog. Another departure is that this beer punches in at a formidable 6.5% ABV. That is a pretty huge departure from the large selection of Sam Adams beers that clock in between 4.0% and 5.5%. 

The stereotypical West Coast IPA features tons of tropical fruit, guava, citrus, mango, and pineapple. The Rebel IPA has aromas of pine, orange, tangerine, BIG BISCUIT and BIG CRACKER, grass, lemon grass, cereal, kumquat, and Fruity Pebbles soaking in milk. Along with the cereal and biscuit is some slight mineral edge to the water.

The taste is a lot like the nose, for better or worse. I know what my vision of a stereotypical West Coast IPA is, and this is not that. That's good news for Lagunitas, because their IPA is more in line with the stereotypical West Coast IPA. But enough about that. What you taste here: cereal, pine, lemon, resinous grapefruit and orange, bitter pine, lemon, earthy bitterness, and big biscuit/cracker. Missing is the Grateful Dead levels of dank, or the Hawaiian freeway pileup of tropical fruits. I'm not feeling that West Coast vibe at all, really, but this is a perfectly fine IPA.

Maybe the real issue is that the quintessential West Coast IPA is actually an Imperial IPA. Hmm...food for thought. This isn't a bad beer though. It's very drinkable at 6.5%, with masked alcohol. This has a medium-bodied mouthfeel, with smoothing carbonation, and good duration and palate depth. Complexity is par the course. Up front is cereal-biscuit followed by pine, guava, and nondescript orange/tangerine; that rolls into pine, with some woody stuff, earthy bitterness, grass; the back end features lingering hopes and more biscuit/cracker. Dry. Like a Pilsner. Weird but good.

Rating: Average (3.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Decent Average on this beer. Tony Magee can chill the fuck out. The Lagunitas IPA is better than this beer, and it's much more true to the West Coast stereotype. So what if Sam Adams be jacking tap lines, shit happens. When did this business become a tongue-in-your-competitor's-asshole affair? But you have to see the appeal of this beer. The Rebel IPA is cheap (less than $10 for a 6-pack, and the ABV is pretty good at 6.5%). And this beer is accessible with a pretty soft 45 IBUs, tons of biscuit/cracker malt, and yeah. I honestly wish it was a bit sweeter and more tropical. Simcoe and Chinook and Centennial hops don't mess around. Food pairings...whatever. American bar food, pizza, wings, burgers, you know the drill. 

Random Thought: This is a super solid beer, it really is. Don't even give me your bullshit about how it's manufactured and too refined, like those qualifiers mean fuck all. This beer is solid. It's a good IPA. Is it the West Coast? Not for my nostalgia preference. But it works. I'd get it again on tap, and I'm sure I will. And I think a lot of people who trust the Sam Adams brand thanks to Boston Lager and Summer Ale will also seek this out on tap. And who knows, maybe they'll convert to more niche craft brands.