July 16th, 2013 | Add a Comment | Written by Russ Beck
Last spring, Brad Moyer ran a guest post about his story winning Al’s of Hampden’s Triple IPA homebrew competition. As his prize, the beer would be brewed as part of Troegs’ scratch series. The winning brew was called Triple Mango IPA and it quickly became one of their best beers in the Scratch series, at least according to this blog. It was so popular, it won a competition to determine which Scratch beer Troegs’ should re-brew. I certainly voted for more mango, and I’m glad the rest of the beer world did, too. Luckily, we have Kenton living right down the road, and he basically bought the place out.
Scratch 98: Triple Mango IPA
Appearance
The beer pours into my Mad Elf glass a thick yellow color, much like a ground up fresh mango. About one finger of white head builds up, but gives way quickly. Bubbles work their way through the beer slowly. One of the most interesting looking IPAs I've seen.
Aroma
The fresh mangoes definitely are the focus of the aroma, with a nice citrus character underneath. A slight piny character brings the whole beer together, but at times it seems to be slightly disjointed. There are a lot of fruits going on here, but they all work.
Taste
This is where the beer really shines, the taste, because all of those aromas are bolstered when they hit your tongue. The mangoes are there and in force, but play nicely with what seems to be hops straight off of the vine. The hops taste like the pellets smell when I drop them into my homebrew: full of citrus and pine. The backend has some resinous hops, slight fruit, and just a hint of the alcohol.
Mouthfeel/Drinkability
The body is thick, with a lower than average amount of carbonation. You'd hardly know this was more than 11% ABV, which is a testament to all the big flavors working together.
Value
After loving the last round of this brew, I decided to splurge and buy a full case. At only $56, I'd say it was not only worth it, but I would recommend any fan of beer buy it. That cheap price probably has something to do with why it sold out by 6pm.
Overall
This is the best Scratch beer that Troegs makes, hands down. To think it came from a homebrew competition is pretty insane, but whatever works! I hope they make this a yearly release.
Russ can trace his beginnings in craft beer to sitting in Zeno’s Pub in State College drinking various craft beer options from across Pennsylvania. Since then, he has never faltered in finding new brews, whether they’re rare, delicious, or hopefully both. Russ will be writing on a large variety of subjects, including but not limited to: reviews, homebrewing, and how to take labels off of beer bottles. He’ll drink just about anything, but prefers a nice Stout, IPA, or Weizenbock. Find Russ Beck on Google Plus
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