Beer of the Week! 01/02/24

One Family Belly Gang

Normally $15.99 / Now on Sale for $14.96
New England Style IPA

There’s room in the world for an NEIPA juice bomb, and One Family Brewing Company in Lovettsville, VA … being veterans, probably, would not approve of us cavalierly talking about dropping any types of bombs, but they’re certainly not afraid to make a juicy, zesty old New England Style IPA, and we’re all for that.

Their Belly Gang loads up on two southern Pacific tropical fruit hops. Galaxy, from Australia, works very well as an aroma hop, pumping out intense guava and peach aromas. Nelson Sauvin, from New Zealand, is a particular favorite of ours. It can impart passionfruit and white wine grape notes to its beers.

One Family leaves this brew a little off-dry so the juiciness has something to hang onto. All those fruit notes are surrounded by a pronounced citrus zest that builds and builds as you go through the glass. It’s just da’ … it’s another tasty brew from One Family.

Bonus Beer of the Week (‘Cause if you meet the Buddha on the road, why not be able to offer him a drink?)

Zero Gravity Buck Buck Juice

Normally $14.99 / Now on Sale for $13.96
Double New England Style IPA

Zero Gravity in Burlington, VT has a New England Style IPA called the “Duck Duck Juice.” Makes sense. That’s a clever name for an NEIPA. This Double NEIPA, the Buck Buck Juice, however, is not just a bigger version of the DDJ. Using an almost completely different hop profile, it’s a whole other animal.

The only hop that the two share is the Mosaic hop. Both use it for dry-hopping. However, the Buck Buck Juice joins Mosaic with our old friend Nelson Sauvin for some extra juicy aromas. As for bittering, that IPA workhorse, Citra handles the chore all on its lonesome.

All of these hops sit on top of Rahr Malting Company’s Premium Pilsner, which is a surprise. Rahr’s Pilsner Malt is ideal for lagers, Pilsners in particular (as you can imagine) — you know, lighter beers. When you use such a malt for an IPA it’s to really put the hops out front. However, the Buck Buck Juice stands out by having a significant malt backbone. It’s enough to make this beer be about more than its hops. It’s like wrapping the juiciness in a nice warm blanket.

The wacky things these brewers do. You just never know until it’s in your glass.

Remember!

You can see our entire beer inventory on Untappd.com!