Alaskan Brewing – Icy Bay IPA – A First Tasting

We brought you the news of this beer as the label/press release came out and the video was released….and now I’m excited to bring you the first sampling of Alaskan Brewing’s new Icy Bay IPA.

As a regular traveler to the Northwest, I’m really familiar with Alaskan Brewing beers, especially their IPA, so who better than to sample a new version.  According to Alaskan, this new Icy Bay IPA is an updated version of it’s regular IPA and it’s inspired by adventurous Alaskans who surf the waves on the Alaskan coastline.  The label features a great photo taken by Adventurer Scott Dickerson that features his brother surfing near Yakut Alaska….and boy does it look great.

To compliment the label, the beer itself has a gorgeous color (SRM 9), and frothy head.  The aroma is loaded with notes of citrus and piney hops and Icy Bay IPA really amps up the hop-volume compared to Alaskan’s original 2007 IPA.  The flavors are big and bold and if you’re guessing there are a lot of hops on-board, you’d be right.  Icy Bay IPA uses a complex blend of Cascade, Summit, Bravo, Calypso and Apollo and I think they really nailed the balance.  While the IBU will get your attention, the malty backbone is there to even it all out and leave you with a clean and brisk finish.

For those asking, Icy Bay IPA will be packaged in 12oz and 22oz bottles and come in at 6.2% ABV and 65 IBU.  This is a really good IPA and luckily Alaskan Brewing sent me the 22oz size so I was able to enjoy more than one.  Check this beer out for yourself and be sure to watch the video as well.  A big thank you to Alaskan  for sending along Icy Bay, and I already have a frame planned for the Scott Dickerson autographed Alaskan surfing photo.  Cheers guys!
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