From the Beer Writer: You hear someone say, “Pizza Port just came out with a really good IPA,” and it’s like…duh! They’ve been doing that for decades and nearly every hoppy beer they make (ditto non-hoppy, to-style creations) is magical. So when one of them is a standout among standouts, that’s something to talk about. Enter Palapa, a recently-released Mosaic-centric India pale ale that showcases the everything-under-the-sun nature of that incredibly versatile varietal. Its flavors and aromas bring in a little bit of everything: peach, mango, papaya, and navel orange. That delightful medley is easy to enjoy thanks to the crisp, biting finish that is the trademark of IPAs from this storied local family of brewpubs. Best of all, it’s readily available across the county in six-packs of 16-ounce cans that are sure to go quick, first from store shelves and then from your refrigerator!
From the Brewer: “The purpose behind Palapa was to create a crisp, bright and tropical IPA spotlighting Mosaic hops. Mosaic has a lot of fruity flavors going on and we’ve found that, when combined with New Zealand Waimea hops, the result is an amplification of those tropical notes. To balance the sweet, tropical-fruit character, we added a little bit of Columbus and German Grungeist. The Columbus gives the beer grapefruit, dankness and onion notes, while the Grungeist adds black pepper, herbal essence and lemon. To help cut the powerful flavors from all these high-alpha hops, we used some rye malt to provide spice and a drying quality, and included a touch of wheat and oats to soften all of the bitterness. We fermented with our house Cruda yeast strain, which is high-attenuating and adds a slight biscuity note. All the subtle details of this recipe combine to create the well-rounded, tropical Mosaic IPA we were going for. “—Sean Farrell, Director of Brewing Operations, Pizza Port Brewing