Last month I received several cans of Appalachian Mountain Brewery beers out of the blue: Not an IPA and Not a Double IPA. Not having heard of this brewery before, I determined it was a member of the Craft Brew Alliance and assumed that the company still had my address on file and randomly sent me some surprise beer. Why? I don’t know; I haven’t received any CBA beer in ages, and these beers arrived out of the blue. Perhaps it’s related to this story from The Full Pint last month, about making its beers more accessible to fans.

At any rate, the brewery is located in Boone, North Carolina, and produces a variety of beers and ciders. Founded in 2013, the sale to CBA was completed late last year, and the thought just occurred to me: the CBA brews most of the Kona beer in Portland, so I wonder if the AMB beers (or at least the ones I was sent) were brewed there as well?

At any rate let’s dive into these two “not” IPAs and see how they rate.

Not an IPA (P.S. It’s an IPA)

This beer is apparently a 2018 GABF silver medal winner in the highly contested IPA category, and a quick search on the GABF website leads to an answer to my stray thought question above: the winning IPA was brewed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and not in North Carolina. I’m sure it’s still brewed in NC, but I don’t know where this particular can of beer was brewed, nor was there a date code on it.

The description of Not an IPA on the site reads:

This light-colored New England style IPA has a lot of flavor from the 3 types of hops used and finishes with a nice crispness that can be enjoyed anytime, anywhere.

It’s 6.7% ABV and 74 IBUs.

Appearance: Hazy golden yellow to golden-tan in color. Big, pillowy white head, with a moussey consistency in the center and a nice persistence.

Smell: Pretty sure there’s Brettanomyces, or a Belgian chlorophenolic note with some barnyard here. Getting a little bit of apricot and green onion, but the Brett/Belgo funky and slightly medicinal character dominates the nose.

Taste: Rough. Some chlorophenols/plastic band-aid-ish character with some Brett and hay rusticity. Some garlic green savory flavor and an earthy, spicy note that’s a bit jarring. If this isn’t a Belgian-style IPA then there’s some kind of infection here. Hay and barnyard round out the impressions.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with an earthy, medicinal aftertaste.

Overall: I tried both cans to confirm: this is not a good (batch of?) beer, and I don’t know if it’s old, infected, or just a problematic brew. If handed to me blind I would have guessed Belgian-style IPA and not a very good one at that, much less NEIPA, and would seriously question a GABF win.

Not a Double IPA (P.S. It’s a Double IPA)

After Not an IPA I wasn’t sure how to approach this one. The description says:

Don’t let the name confuse you because it actually is a double! Not-A-Double is clean, full, and satisfying. This DIPA gives a full spectrum of hop flavors and aromas without wrecking your palette with harsh bitterness. Tropical fruit, sweet pine, pungent dankness, and earthy citrus all comes from this one glass.

It’s 8.7% ABV and, strangely, less IBUs that the first with only 60. Also no packaging date on the can.

Appearance: Unfiltered appearance, light orange-gold color with a lacy, ephemeral white head. Fine- to medium-sized bubbles, leaving a ring around the rim of the glass.

Smell: Fruity/vegetal, with a hint of chlorophenol funk. Melon rind, hop resin, wilted nettles. Hop stems, and a wisp of a medicinal note.

Taste: Sweet and boozy, some alcohol heat and bitterness, and “greens” in the first sips. Still an earthy, very slight medicinal quality to be found (I can taste in in the back). Big presence with sweet malts and saturated with vegetal notes, chard greens, and a lightly woody/hop stem bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied, boozy-ish sweet, and a touch of medicinal (chlorophenol) lingers into the aftertaste.

Overall: It’s better than the Not an IPA, not nearly as infected (if that’s what’s happening), though there is still a touch of… something… going on. Big and somewhat boozy which I think helps mask some of the problems.

So, I’m left with lingering questions: why did I get sent these cans, and why aren’t they very good? How old were they? AMB isn’t being distributed anywhere west of the Mississippi that I’m aware of, so is that going to change, and if so, will CBA Portland be brewing the beers? Finally, has anyone else had similar experiences with these beers?