Beer of the Week: 420

From the Beer Writer: Full disclosure: I didn’t know what 420 meant until I started working in the beer industry. This would be embarrassing if I hadn’t spent the past 14 years sharing how tragically uncool I am through my writings. As such, I feel like this will be just another fun personal fact. Now, it’s not that I’d never partaken in the psychotropic basis of the stoner pseudo-holiday. I simply wasn’t hip to the lingo until I was working at Stone Brewing and everybody was getting psyched about a new beer we were releasing called Stone Enjoy By 04.20.13 IPA. There was a lot of laughter and at least one Spicoli reference, so I bit and asked what the big deal was about that particular date. The laughter was soon at my expense, but it was worth it because it inspired me to learn more about the similarities between hops and marijuana, and then be able to truly appreciate the dank qualities that can be imparted into hoppy beers. It’s something the folks from Duck Foot Brewing know a thing or two about, as is evidenced by this week’s featured beer, 420 IPA. An annual release that was such a hit last year that the Miramar brewery produced it in much greater quantities this time around, it transitions from bold flavors of overripe mango, cantaloupe, tangerine and caramelized peaches to a dank, resinous finish the aforementioned Fast Times icon would surely enjoy. And at 7.7% (alcohol-by-volume, high enough it might as well be dubbed a double IPA), it’s got enough alcoholic superpower to bring on a green-day style of euphoria.

From the Brewer: “Centennial, Chinook and Simcoe are used in copious quantities to make the dank sauce that is 420 IPA. We had so much fun making it last year that we just had to make more this year! The beer harkens back to the days of ten years ago when IPAs had some bitterness to them, but respects our new sensibilities by still focusing on the hop flavor and aromas. You will get notes of pine and resin in the flavor and aroma, with hints of grapefruit peeking through. All of that hop character balances precariously on a malt body featuring a large complement of rye that spices up the overall profile quite nicely. It all comes together to be a smooth and easy-to-drink ode to terpenes.”—Matt Akin, Head Brewer, Duck Foot Brewing