OK, go ahead and say it. “Bruguru! Shut up about this Session IPA business already! “Now that you’ve got that out of your system, I will confess to the fact that I think that most so-called “Session IPAs” are neither session beers nor India Pale Ales. Yes, that much is true indeed. Most of them mind you…..

That’s not the case with Blue Tarp Tropic Thunder, which they call a Session IPA. Tropic Thunder gets it half right, which is more than I can say about most Session IPAs. That’s because at 3.7% alcohol by volume, the beer clocks in under the classic 4% definition of session ale. It’s not an IPA though, any more than other session IPAs, because you just can’t be an IPA at these low gravities.

That said, I do enjoy these beers as the first beer of the night, and that’s exactly how I enjoyed this one at Taco Mac back in April. It was reasonable enough at $6 for a full mug pour, too. The beer has a very respectable IBU count of 80 and is brewed with Mosaic hops. Here’s what Blue Tarp says about the beer on their website:

A true session strength India Pale Ale with all the bitter hoppiness of a Double IPA. An ode to the Mosaic hop – an initial burst of Mango and Passion Fruit flavors fade away to a dry refreshing bitterness and a full body.

Blue Tarp Tropic Thunder pours to a brilliant orange color with a light creamy head formation and a very tropical nose of passion fruit with some pear to boot. Taking a sip, the beer has a bit of malt up front (but just a bit) then more passion fruit, juicy fruit gum, citric orange, light resin and a long dry herbal grassy bitterness.

I really enjoyed this beer from a local Georgia brewery for several reasons. Mostly, because it was delicious and full of hop flavor. Like most of these beers it is thin on the malt and that makes it one-dimensional. Still, at 3.7% ABV I’m a little more OK with that because as a trade-off I can have a few of these and still be OK. This is the second low-strength beer I have enjoyed from Blue Tarp (Funk Weisse at 3% being the first), and it’s nice to see them doing another. Highly recommended!

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

 

 



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