Hello readers and welcome back. This week, Megan forced Haley to drink an IPA. Needless to say, it did not go well. We decided on trying Phase Three Brewing Company’s High Timber Winter IPA at 6.8% ABV, in honor of a chilly, snowy weekend. What is a Winter IPA? We asked the same question, so to enlighten you, according to Google: hop-forward beers brewed for colder weather, often featuring citrus, pine or resinous notes, higher ABVs (6% to 8%+). This description aligned with Phase Three’s High Timber, which listed notes of pine, lemon and lemongrass and hops of Cascade, Centennial and Chinook.
We were being ultra-performative pick-mes as we attempted to drink this IPA during wine night. Haley was not a fan of this beer—unsurprisingly, given that she does not like IPAs. If you were wondering why this is our first IPA in a while (and maybe our last), this is why. She said that the only way she could drink this beer was if she were a few beers in. Please note our saga from Cinco de Mayo last year, as the activities that went on after a few Jose Muldoon’s margs and an 8% IPA were darker than the beer itself.
Megan, on the other hand, did not think it was bad, considering she thought it would taste like a candle after reading it had notes of pine. It was digestible, not leaving a gross hoppy taste in the back of your mouth like other IPAs. However, Megan did not taste any notes of pine, lemon zest or lemongrass. We were wholly unimpressed by the taste of this beer.
The can was also quite interesting. Haley described the design as “millennial” with drawings that someone would make on their iPad and sell for $50. The strangest part was the black top of the can, which made it feel as if you were drinking out of a black hole. Weirdly, this may have made the experience better. Often, Megan is a proponent of pouring a beer into a pint glass, especially one that is as hard to get down as this one. But something about the black opening made it less daunting. If we had known the color of this beer, we might not have been able to get it down.
One thing we did like was the cute little bird Phase Three included in their logo and the fact that the colors on the can exactly match Haley’s new Flylow puffy jacket she got for Christmas, which she wears every day. Drawing this conclusion may diminish her love for the jacket, as every day she is now harrowingly reminded of this eerie IPA. Not to mention, Haley couldn’t even finish one pint in an hour, let alone two. Claire Lindsay ‘27 benefited from our disgust at this beer, as she was graciously given the rest of our supply. Perhaps this will propel her into the exciting Beer for Babes inheritance. See y’all next week!